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a better way to make grilled cheese + the best tomato soup ever

April 18, 2018 16 Comments

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It feels so appropriate that I’m posting a recipe for warm, comfort food grilled cheese and tomato soup today because it is STILL snowing. It is a pretty snow, to be honest. It looks like we’re being dusted with powdered sugar from the heavens! Ok, maybe that’s a weird analogy but that’s immediately what I thought of when I saw the snow starting to fall.

Perfect Oven Grilled Cheese + The Best Tomato Soup I've Ever Had this recipe

It may seem odd that I’m posting a grilled cheese + tomato soup recipe smack dab in the middle of April – but, the weather has been so wintery that it kinda fits.

I also equate this food with spring. When I was growing up, my mom would often take a well-deserved break from cooking on Sundays, which meant I would bug my Dad to find something for me to eat. He is not a good cook (sorry, Dad!) but he can make a great grilled cheese and reheat tomato soup from a can like a pro! I remember eating his tomato soup and grilled cheese on many spring evenings.

The Pretty Dish, Jessica Merchant

This tomato soup recipe in this post is truly the best I have EVER had and it comes from Jessica Merchant’s (creator of the stunning blog, How Sweet Eats) second cookbook – The Pretty Dish.

People – I cannot recommend this cookbook enough. You know how sometimes you pick up a cookbook at the store, flip through it, and think to yourself, “Well, I would probably make about three of the recipes in here”?

THIS IS NOT THAT COOKBOOK. Nope, not at all. I can’t remember the last time I picked up a cookbook and was actually excited about pretty much every recipe in it! The Pretty Dish is full of creative, doable, and delicious recipes – not to mention the GORGEOUS photos! There are also 50 beauty DIYs at the end of the book, sooo basically this is the only book we’ll ever need ?.

This Toasted Garlic Tomato Bisque comes together so quickly – and it doesn’t require any complicated ingredients or techniques. It took me well under an hour to pull together the tomato soup and the grilled cheese. Deeply flavored, easy to make, and quick?! Yes please. I’ve already made this soup three times because of how delicious + easy it is!

Perfect Oven Grilled Cheese + The Best Tomato Soup I've Ever Had

Now, let’s talk CHEESE. I am terrible at making grilled cheese. I always burn the bread when I cook it in a skillet and somehow the cheese never gets quite as melty as I want it, and then the bread is SO crunchy that it kind of hurts to take a bite.

I accidentally bought extra thick fluffy bread when I was grocery shopping, and Grant pointed out that, ahem, this bread was too thick for grilled cheese and would probably burn before the cheese could get melted (not that this would be anything new, hah).

But, this led to one of my best kitchen discoveries to date! I decided to make the grilled cheese in the oven, under the broiler, to avoid burning the bread in the pan! I’m happy to announce that it worked like a charm and Grant and I happily devoured our grilled cheese + tomato soup as fast as we could.

Perfect Oven Grilled Cheese + The Best Tomato Soup I've Ever Had

I even convinced Grant to do the above “cheese pull” photo for me since I, sadly, do not have three hands. I think he nailed it – don’t you agree?? Maybe he has a future in hand-modeling. Anyways – the important thing here is that you:

  • Check out How Sweet Eats for more of Jessica’s fabulous recipes
  • Treat yourself to a copy of The Pretty Dish because it is the most amazing cookbook I have seen in a LONGGGG time
  • Make and eat and love this tomato soup and this grilled cheese!!
  • Probably buy enough ingredients to make the soup twice, because you will want to

That’s all for today, folks! I hope the weather is better wherever you are. And if it’s not, well, what a perfect reason to make these recipes! As always, if you make a recipe I’d love to see it. In this case, tag #bluebowlrecipes AND #thepretty dish!

Thank you, Jessica, for a stunning cookbook and my new favorite tomato soup recipe ?.

Perfect Oven Grilled Cheese + The Best Tomato Soup I've Ever Had

A Better Way To Make Grilled Cheese + The Best Tomato Soup I've Ever Had

Perfectly toasty and melty grilled cheese made in the oven, served with the most amazing tomato soup ever - Toasted Garlic Tomato Bisque from Jessica Merchant's new cookbook, The Pretty Dish!
5 from 5 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Calories: 328kcal
Author: Stephanie Simmons

Ingredients

  • FOR THE TOMATO SOUP
  • 2 tbsp butter salted or unsalted works
  • 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 2 shallots, sliced The shallots I bought were very large, so I only used one
  • 1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 28 oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
  • 2/3 cup cooking sherry
  • 1/3 cup chicken stock Vegetable stock works too, if you want to make this recipe vegetarian!
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp dried basil
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream Plus a little extra for garnish
  • fresh basil and oregano, chopped For topping
  • FOR THE GRILLED CHEESE
  • 1 loaf of good bakery bread
  • 6 oz cheese We used a mix of gruyere and mild cheddar, and we used blocks of cheese and cut slices
  • 1/4 cup butter

Instructions

  • Make the soup: In a medium saucepan (or dutch oven), melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until it is golden brown and toasty. With a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic to a plate. Add the shallots to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until soft and slightly golden. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Return the garlic to the pan, along with the tomatoes, sherry, stock, sugar, basil, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Then, reduce to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes. 
  • When the soup is done simmering, transfer to a high-powered blender and carefully blend until pureed. Return the soup to the pot and heat over low heat. Right before serving, stir in the cream. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if desired.
  • Make the grilled cheese: Turn your oven's broiler on. Spray a baking sheet generously with non-stick spray. Slice your bread. Spread the outsides and the insides of each slice with butter. Lay two slices of bread on the baking sheet, and lay half of the cheese on each slice. Put in the oven for 1-2 minutes without adding the top pieces of bread. Keep a close eye on the sandwiches so they don't burn! After the 1-2 minutes, add the top slice of bread to each of the two pieces on the pan and return to the oven for 1-2 more minutes. Flip the sandwiches and broil for another 1-2 minutes. Keep a close eye on the sandwiches during this part! The broil function is super powerful and things can go from golden brown to charcoal black quickly. 
  • Before serving, drizzle the soup with the extra cream and top with basil and oregano. Serve with the hot grilled cheese! 

Nutrition

Calories: 328kcal

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Filed Under: Healthy, Lunch & Dinner, Soup, Yeast Breads Tagged With: cheese, easy recipe, grilled cheese, the pretty dish, tomato soup, weeknight dinner

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Comments

  1. Honey @ The Girl Next Shore says

    April 22, 2018 at 5:07 am

    5 stars
    THIS IS THE BEST RECIPE OF THE KIND I’VE EVER READ.
    Yes, all caps, because tom soup + grilled cheese is my absolute go-to when I’m feeling rubbish! Lovely colour on that soup, and lovely stretch on that cheese!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      April 23, 2018 at 9:17 pm

      Thank you so much for your kind words!! They’re my go-to also ?

      Reply
  2. Arjhon Canoy says

    April 20, 2018 at 8:48 pm

    5 stars
    Can’t wait to try this recipe. I love Grilled cheese on the morning plus this healthy and delicious tomato soup, a perfect combo. Thanks for this recipe.

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      April 20, 2018 at 8:51 pm

      Thanks for your kind words, Arjhon!

      Reply
  3. Camila Hurst says

    April 20, 2018 at 9:03 am

    5 stars
    wow talk about a crunchy grilled cheese, eh! Never thought of using the broiler to make it. I do use the broiler to toast the top of a cheesy toast sometimes lol. I love tomato soup with grilled cheese, thats one of my favorites comfort food!!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      April 20, 2018 at 11:14 am

      I love these two foods together, too! ?

      Reply
  4. Lexi says

    April 20, 2018 at 8:27 am

    This looks amazing I can’t wait to try it! I pinned for reference. ?

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      April 20, 2018 at 11:14 am

      Thank you so much, Lexi! ❤️

      Reply
  5. Lisa says

    April 19, 2018 at 12:02 pm

    5 stars
    Yay for not burning the grilled cheese! I’ll have to try making it your way!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      April 19, 2018 at 9:07 pm

      Glad to hear that, Lisa! ?❤️

      Reply
  6. Cherryl Ehlenburg says

    April 19, 2018 at 11:55 am

    I look forward to trying this. I’m always looking for homemade tomato soup recipes, but when it comes right down to it, it’s so much easier to open a couple cans of Campbells! One of the reasons I shy away from homemade is because my husband and kids don’t like the tomatoes. So I love that this recipe says to puree them. My mouth is watering already!

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      April 19, 2018 at 9:07 pm

      Thanks Cherryl!! I hope you and your family love this soup ?

      Reply
  7. Connie says

    April 19, 2018 at 9:18 am

    Tomato soup and grilled cheese is one of my favorite all time combos. Can’t wait to try this. I learned a bit ago about doing grilled cheese sandwiches in the oven, it’s particularly helpful when making a whole lot of sandwiches at one time.

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      April 19, 2018 at 9:08 pm

      Oh yes – that is a great way to make a big batch of them! I didn’t even think of that! ❤️??

      Reply
  8. Monidipa Dutta says

    April 19, 2018 at 8:52 am

    5 stars
    I love cheese… Yummy.

    Reply
    • Stephanie Simmons says

      April 19, 2018 at 9:08 pm

      Don’t we all ?❤️

      Reply

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