The classic pairing of grilled cheese and tomato soup is one of my all time favorites. It’s something that I – and most other people I know  – grew up eating, so as adults it has evolved into no-fuss comfort food. Nostalgia aside, it’s incredibly easy to make a more grown-up version of this dish that will make you want to throw away your can opener and forget the name Campbell’s (except don’t toss the can opener because you need it for the tomatoes). I grow basil on my balcony because I love it so much and it’s almost always the flavor used in tomato soup, but if you’ve never made your tomato soup with rosemary you’re in for a real treat. It’s particularly wonderful when fall starts to roll around because rosemary has a savory, evergreen-like aroma that reminds me of the upcoming holidays. The soup itself is very low calorie (less than 80 per bowl) but I still wanted to find a way to trim down the calories on the grilled cheese front. In the end I decided to make open-faced grilled cheese “fries” so that each person only got one slice of bread instead of two. Not only is it a little bit healthier, but they are the perfect finger food for dunking into a piping hot bowl of soup. But yeah… I still ate two slices of bread because the fries were too delicious. Oh well… I tried!

While making this for lunch today I didn’t remember until the very end that my immersion blender was broken. I ended up transferring the soup to the food processor to puree it which made me realize how much I LOVE my immersion blender. If you don’t have one of these and you find yourself making a lot of stove-top soups and sauces I highly recommend getting one. It makes your life so much easier! Doing it in the food processor or in the blender works fine though, just make sure that you’re careful as the hot liquid can splash around and make a mess – especially if you overfill the basin.

For the grilled cheese sticks I think using a combination of cheeses is the best way to go, but use whatever you have around. For mine I used a mix of sharp white cheddar, a colby-swiss blend, and mozzarella. The sharp cheddar gives it a nice pungent flavor while the other cheeses give an ooey gooey melty consistency. I used a total of 5 ounces so it would be a little under a serving of cheese per person – another area where I was trying to skim off a few calories. The bread I used was a white Italian bread with a subtle open crumb. The shallow holes end up creating yummy cheesy pockets of awesomeness, and in some cases the cheese oozed through and browned a little on the bottom when grilling – perfect.

Rosemary Tomato Soup

2014-01-06 21:25:16

Serves 6

Warm, comforting tomato soup infused with the scent of fresh rosemary.

Save Recipe

Print

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

30 min

Total Time

35 min

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

30 min

Total Time

35 min

Ingredients

1. 1 teaspoon olive oil
2. 1/2 yellow onion, diced
3. 1 cup grated carrots
4. 2 cloves garlic, minced
5. 1 sprig fresh rosemary
6. 1/8 teaspoon salt
7. 5 cups vegetable stock
8. 1 31.5 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes (I used San Marzano)
9. 1 bay leaf
10. 1 teaspoon black pepper
11. 1 teaspoon dried oregano
12. Salt, to taste (use more or less depending on the sodium content of your stock – I didn’t need any extra salt for mine)
13. 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in soup pan on medium high heat. When hot add onions, carrots, garlic, rosemary, and the 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Let cook for several minutes until the onions are just slightly caramelized.
2. Pour stock into the pan, making sure to stir well to get all of the caramelized bits off of the bottom. Add entire can of tomatoes, bay leaf, and additional seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Remove bay leaf and rosemary sprig from the soup. It’s ok if any rosemary leaves fell off while cooking, as they will be blended in when you puree the soup. Turn off the heat.
4. Using either an immersion blender or food processor, puree soup to desired consistency.
5. Transfer back to pot stir in the heavy cream. Serve immediately.

Calories

1. 79

Gouda Monster http://www.goudamonster.com/

Grilled Cheese "Fries"

2014-01-06 21:27:18

Serves 6

Fun twist on traditional grilled cheese – perfect for soup dunking!

Save Recipe

Print

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

5 min

Total Time

10 min

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

5 min

Total Time

10 min

Ingredients

1. 5 ounces shredded cheese (I used a blend of sharp white cheddar, colby-swiss, and mozzarella)
2. 6 slices of good bread
3. 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat a skillet on medium high heat and turn on your oven’s broiler.
2. Brush each slice of bread with the melted butter on one side. I had a little extra butter leftover and just poured it into my soup pot – yum!
3. Place your bread, butter-side down, onto your hot skillet. Put shredded cheese on top and allow it to get nice and seared on the bottom.
4. Transfer the bread slices to your oven to brown the cheese. It happens pretty quickly so take care not to let it burn.
5. Put cheese bread on cutting board and let cool a couple of minutes before slicing into sticks. Top with fresh black pepper.

Calories

1. 191

Gouda Monster http://www.goudamonster.com/