Fancy Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Ingredients

TOMATO SOUP

Two 28oz cans whole peeled tomato

1 medium red onion, chopped

30-40g or 8 cloves sliced garlic

50-60g or 4Tbsp (a very long squeeze) olive oil

15g or 2 1/2tsp salt

15g or 3 2/3tsp sugar

750g/mL or 3c chicken stock (+ additional 75g or so to thin soup if needed)

40g or 3Tbsp tomato paste

1 chipotle chili in adobo (optional)

Grated parm

Chives, minced

Additional olive oil (for garnish)

Pepper

GRILLED CHEESE

125g or 1 stick butter

75g or 1/4c + 1 heaping Tbsp mayo

15g or 1Tbsp dijon

Basic hearty white bread

Cheeses: american, gruyere, provolone

Other good cheeses: oaxaca, fontina, parmigiano-reggiano, roquefort

Directions

TOMATO SOUP

Preheat oven to 450F|232C

Add canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, salt, sugar, chicken stock, tomato paste, and chili in adobo to large baking dish or dutch oven. Stir ingredients to combine and roast in the oven for 1 hour, stirring halfway through.

After 60-75 minutes of roasting, remove from the oven, carefully ladle half of the "soup" into a blender, and blend on high until smooth (obviously this stuff will be hot so use caution) . Transfer to a fine mesh strainer over a sauce pot and force soup through to create a silky texture. Repeat with the second half of the unblended soup. If needed, add additional chicken stock to thin to desired consistency. Season to taste with salt. Hold soup over low heat to keep warm while you make the grilled cheese sandos.

Garnish with chives, olive oil, parm, and black pepper.

GRILLED CHEESE

Add butter, mayo, and dijon to food processor.

Process until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat nonstick pan over medium low heat.

Liberally spread butter/mayo/mustard mixture over one side of two slices of bread. Flip to non buttered side and layer down cheeses - slice american, slices gruyere, slice provolone, and another slice of american. Place in skillet, pressing down with spatula for about 30 seconds. Cook for additional 90 seconds or until side one reaches desired amount of brown. Flip to the second side and toast for an additional two minutes or until side two is golden brown and cheeses are melty.