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I am so terriable sorry that I have kept this recipe from you. I was going through my iphoto and saw this tomato soup photo from Jan 19th, 2009. It’s ok to call me a slacker. I have accepted it.
Well I must say that I am even surprised that I made this soup in the first place.
You see, I have been a life long tomato soup hater.
I remember when I was young, my Mom would fix my sister tomato soup. Campbells Tomato Soup.
She would mix it with water and sometimes milk. I was always a little bit jealous, because she always got a nice topping..maybe some crackers or a dollop of sour cream. I had to eat Mrs. Grass chicken noodle soup..but at least I got to throw in the golden nugget egg thingy. Ohhh the excitement.
So over the years I have given tomato soup a few chances. They do say your taste buds change every 7 years. I even upgraded from the concentrated soup variety to the soup that does not require an extra can of water. But nope, still never liked it.
Why did I make this recipe? Humpf, your guess is as good as mine. But I tried it and LOVED IT.
Hallelujah..I am cured!
So if you too avoid tomato soup, give it another shot with this recipe. It is so fresh and delicious!
Oh, and the grilled cheese croutons they were, well, a perfect touch!
ROASTED TOMATO SOUP with GRILLED CHEESE CROUTONS
Printed Friendly Version
Makes about 10 cups
3 pints Cherry Tomatoes
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Cup Chopped Onion
1 (28oz) Can Diced Tomatoes
4 Cups Chicken Stock or Broth
1/2 tsp thyme
1 cup Whipping Cream or you can even use 1 cup evaporated milk to lighten it up
Heat the oven to 400. On a baking sheet, combine the cherry tomatoes, 2 Tbsp olive oil salt and pepper. Toss to coat tomatoes. Roast the tomatoes for about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or until the are getting shriveled and have brown spots on them.
In a large stock pot, melt the butter and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat Add the onions and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook for an addition minute. Add the canned tomatoes(and juice from the can) chicken stock, thyme and the roasted tomatoes. Pour any of the liquid from the roasted tomatoes into the pot as well. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered for 40 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
Allow the soup to cool a bit. Using a food processor or a blender, puree the soup until smooth.
Return it to the pot and add the heavy cream or evaporated milk. Warm the soup again without letting it boil. Add more salt or pepper if needed.
GRILLED CHEESE CROUTONS
Softened Butter
1/4 tsp Thyme
6 slices Whole Wheat Bread
3 Slices of your favorite Cheese
Heat a medium skillet over medium high heat.
Combine the thyme and butter in a small bowl.
Spread one side of each slice of bread with the thyme butter.
Add 3 slices of bread into the pan, buttered side down. Top with cheese. Top with additional buttered bread, buttered side up. Cook for 3-5 minutes on each size.
Allow to cool slightly and cut into strips or 1 ” squares.
Recipe From FAMILY FUN.
Oh this is THE cutest idea! We love love love tomato soup and grilled cheese dinners in our family, but I hadn't though of making the sandwiches into croutons! You're so cute! I'm pretty sure you and I would be best friends if you lived in Santa Barbara 🙂
Marina @ http://www.yummymummykitchen.com
I definitely avoid tomato soup but I do like the idea of the tomatoes being roasted. I will be brave and give your recipe a try.
The grilled cheese croutons are a brilliant addition, and keep you from eating a whole darn sandwich! I think homemade tomato soup is absolutely fantastic. I will never eat the canned stuff again.
I love creamy tomato soup! They are very comforting!
Looks delish Les. I will be making this with veggie broth!!! Love tomato soup!!!
XO
The other Les
Leslie Loves Veggies
http://leslielovesveggies.net/
Wow…this looks DELISH! TFS!
Put the sandwich IN the soup, now that's a great idea, Leslie. And I have a freezer full of roasted tomatoes. I grew a few grape tomato plants in large pots and you would not believe the harvest I had. I usually put roasted tomatoes on pizza instead of sauce. I love your idea, too! Thanks!
I've never been a fan of canned tomato soup either, but your roasted tomato version looks pretty tasty. I <3 grilled cheese croutons 🙂
OOO I love those croutons! Yum…stumbled this one! Mu-wah!
YUM! The cream is what makes this one. 😉 Cute little sammies.
This is wonderful blog. I love it.
This looks great Leslie!
We love tomato soup, but the kids arent overly thrilled about it around here. But they do LOVE grilled cheese. Next time we try the soup I'll toss grilled cheese croutons in and see if that changes things. Thanks for the idea!
Ooh this sounds delicious! Definitely going to make this on soup night! My husband doesn't care for tomato soup….hopefully I can con him into trying it!
I love this idea! So cute! Your soup looks lovely!
Les, I saw this recipe this morning and went to the store this afternoon (it was my grocery day), bought the ingredients and we just finished eating it. SO YUMMY! All you out there, try this! We live in Bosnia so I didn't have thyme, so I just sprinkled the sandwiches with oregano and put in some freshly dried rosemary. It was so good. Instead of putting it in a blender, I just used my stick blender right in the pot. SOOOO good. Thank you for sharing!!!
**IRBYSTREET**
Thank you so very much for taking the time out of your day to let me know you tried this delicious soup. I am so very glad you liked it!!!!
Those croutons look sooo good! What a great idea.
I love the the grilled cheese croutons…I could eat those all by themselves.
Sounds (and looks!) delicious! I love the idea of "grilled cheese croutons!" YUM!!! 🙂
I love tomato soup, but believe it or not I've not tried a homemade recipe yet. I think the cheesy croutons are brilliant. I would cut them into strips so I could dip into the soup. Yum!!!!
this is all-around good stuff, but those itty-bitty grilled cheese croutons take the cake. very cool, leslie!
How cute with those itty bitty grill cheese sandwiches! Shame on you for holding out on us for so long, tsk tsk.
Grilled cheese croutons!!!! Wow, what a great twist on the classic grilled cheese and tomato soup!
Ok, that is just flat-out genius! Grilled cheese croutons?? Fabulous!!
I am thinking about trying this and would love re-post the recipe if that’s ok. We love soup and sammie nights but I’ve never made tomato soup from scratch. Let me know if it’s ok to re-post with appropriate link love and gushing of course.
woah, grilled cheese croutons?! YUMMEH!
So making this after my first tomato harvest of the summer. YUM!