Roasted Tomato Soup with Sourdough Grilled Cheese

It's that time of year where everyone is looking for recipes to use up their bountiful tomato harvest. Except me. I'm literally the worst gardener. Thanks to my mother-in-law and local Farmers Market, I can benefit from those who naturally have a green thumb. I'm too busy trying to keep two little boys alive to worry about growing plants right now. But that's a story for another day. While I can't grow tomatoes to save my life, I do know how to cook them!

Grilled cheese and tomato soup has always been a comfort food for me. My husband and I practically survived on it in college. While I still have a place in my heart for good ol' canned tomato soup, this recipe definitely takes this time-honored classic to another level.

Roasting the tomatoes with rich aromatics like thyme, onions, garlic, and red bell peppers adds a depth of flavor that will give you a whole new perception of tomato soup. Using the ripest tomatoes and bell peppers possible gives this soup the perfect amount of sweetness that balances out with the saltiness of the Irish cheddar. Add in some perfectly toasted homemade (by some lovely baker, not me) roasted garlic sourdough to round out this hearty fall meal. I haven't fallen down the rabbit hole of quarantine sourdough (yet) but I happily support the bread stand at my local Farmers Market on a weekly basis. They're the experts anyways.

Roasted Tomato Soup

I tend to eyeball this recipe more often than not. I arrange a couple onions and bell peppers on 2 sheet pans, add some whole garlic cloves and fill in the rest of the space with tomatoes. Drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and add some fresh thyme sprigs. It's not an exact science and I enjoy seeing how different each batch turns out depending on the ingredients and quantities I use.

Roasting the veggies can take a little while but it's so worth the wait to let them get to caramelized perfection. I like to squeeze the juice and the majority of the seeds out of the tomatoes before roasting. Doing this lets the flavor of the vegetables really shine without being watered down. I simmer the tomato juice on the stove while the veggies are roasting and let it reduce by about a third.

Once the veggies are roasted, throw away the thyme sprigs, and toss the veggies in the blender with the reduced tomato juice. Blend it all together, add in some milk and sour cream, taste it, and season it to your liking. You can certainly use any blender but I love my Vitamix for making soup. It blends up these veggies into smooth, creamy perfection. Sometimes tomato soup can be a little acidic. If it is, add in a teaspoon of honey and it will smooth it out perfectly. If you make too much, it freezes beautifully in quart-size zippered bags.

Sourdough Grilled Cheese

I've always had my own way of making grilled cheese. I don't know if it's the "right" way but it always works for me. First, you have to start with good ingredients. For this recipe I chose a roasted garlic sourdough bread and Irish cheddar cheese. My next tip is to melt the butter before spreading it on the bread. This helps get an even coating of butter and doesn't compromise the integrity of the bread.

I don't often use the phrase "too much cheese" but there is definitely a fine line between not enough and too much on a grilled cheese. Not enough, and you have a sad sandwich. Too much, and it's a gloppy mess. You want just enough to completely cover the inside of the sandwich with gooey, melty cheese with just a little bit that trickles down the sides and cooks into those addictive little crispy cheese bits on the outside of the sandwich.

This is where I might get in trouble with the grilled cheese snobs - I start with a cold pan. *gasp* I find that starting with a cold pan allows the cheese to get nice and melted without over-toasting the bread. I also like to use a sheet pan about the same size as my griddle to squish the sandwiches down a bit, kind of like a panini press. You don't want to smash them too hard, just enough to make sure that melted butter gets in all the nooks and crannies of your bread to ensure toasted perfection. Once it's done, dip it in your freshly made tomato soup for a classic combo. Don't forget to snatch all the crispy cheese bits off the pan and save them for yourself. Enjoy!