Tomato Soup with Sourdough Grilled Cheese Croutons

Get your PJ‘s on, grab your favorite soup bowl or mug and get ready to eat, drink and be cozy. This creamy, flavorful and warm tomato soup with sourdough grilled cheese croutons is your favorite childhood meal all grown up.

Prep:
15
minutes
Cook:
45
minutes
TOtal:
60
minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 TBSP olive oil
  • 2 TBSP butter (for the soup)
  • 2 and 1/2 TBSP minced garlic
  • 3/4 Cup yellow onion, diced
  • 1 Cup carrots, shredded
  • 1/2 TSP black pepper
  • Pinch of salt + 2 TSP
  • 2 28 Oz cans crushed tomatoes
  • 1 Cup heavy cream
  • 4 Cups chicken broth or vegetable broth (I used chicken)
  • 2 15 Oz can tomato sauce
  • 1 TBSP dried Italian seasonings
  • 1 TBSP fresh parsley
  • 1 TSP fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/2 TBSP sugar
  • Half a loaf of sourdough bread, cut in slices
  • 1/2 Cup butter (for the grilled cheese)
  • Mild cheddar cheese, shredded
  • Thinly sliced fresh basil(for garnish)

Instructions

  1. Dice your onion and set aside.Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add your olive oil and your 2 TBSP of butter. Melt and swirl around the pot to cover the entire surface. Once heated and melted add your onions and garlic and season with a pinch or two of salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant and onions become translucent.Then, add your shredded carrots and cook another 2-3 minutes until tender.
  2. Add your cans of crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and broth. Mix together.
  3. Add italian seasonings, fresh parsley, fresh thyme leaves, sugar, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Add your heavy cream and stir again.
  4. Once everything is mixed, turn your heat off and prepare your blender. Fill your blender about 1/3 of the way up and blend on low. Blend for 1-2 minutes until soup is fully mixed. Oncedone, pour in a separate pot. Repeat this process until all of the soup is blended. This took me about 15-20 minutes to do and I did about 6 separate batches.
  5. Once you are done blending thes oup. Bring your new pot full of blended soup to a boil over high heat. Once boiling turn the heat down to low and bring to a simmer. Your soup is done! YAY! Now, moving on to the sourdough grilled cheese croutons.
  6. While your soup is simmering over low heat, prepare your panini press or your grilled cheese pan. Spray with nonstick spray and bring the heat to medium.
  7. Butter both sides of your sourdough loaf. Place one side butter side down on the grill pan, top with 2-3 handfuls of cheese (do this to your liking) and then place the other butter sliced on top, butter side up. If you are using a panini press, place the top down on the sandwich. If you are using a regular pan cook on one side for 3-5 minutes until bread is golden brown and cheese is melted and flip and repeat on the other side.
  8. Once sourdough grilled cheese isdone, remove from heat and let cool. While cooling prepare another grilled cheese and then repeat Step 8. Once your grilled cheese has cooled, slice your grilled cheese into sticks, then turn and slice each stick into cubes. Repeat This process until you have a sufficient amount of grilled cheese croutons or all of your bread is used up.
  9. Using a ladle, ladle your warm tomato soup into your serving bowl of choice. Garnish with sourdough grilled cheese croutons, fresh basil leaves and drizzle with additional heavy cream.Serve right away and serve with extra sourdough grilled cheese croutons on the side.
  10. ENJOY!