roasted tomato basil soup with mini grilled cheese “croutons”

By ngaldi

a soup that highlights all of summer's glorious bounty! you'll love the wonderful flavor that this soup has to offer.

Ingredients

• 8-12 tomatoes, chopped in quarters (depending on the size is how many you'll need)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons onion
• 3 cups roasted tomato puree (from the above- place in a blender and puree until desired texture)
• 1 cup juice from roasting, seeds strained out
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pepper
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon basil, chopped
• baguette, sliced into crostinis
• fresh mozarella cheese
• butter

Details

Preparation time 5mins
Cooking time 80mins
Adapted from ohsweetbasil.com

Preparation

Step 1

place the tomatoes on a baking sheet that has been lightly drizzled with olive oil. drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and toss to coat. sprinkle evenly with kosher salt and black pepper. roast at 425 for 20-40 minutes or until shriveled and soft.
remove from the oven. let cool for a few minutes and then place the tomatoes, reserving the juices, into a blender (we use blendtec) and puree until you have 3 cups. if you come up short just add tomato sauce to reach 3 cups.
drizzle about 2 teaspoons of olive oil in a large sauce pot. heat over medium high heat until shimmering. add the garlic and onions, turn down to medium and stir frequently. allow to cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. add the tomato puree, juice, chicken stock, brown sugar, salt and pepper. stir and then allow to come to a boil. boil for 10 minutes and turn down to a simmer. add the cream and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
meanwhile, place mozzarella between slices of the baguette, butter the outside and cook in a skillet over medium heat until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden. (you're just making little grilled cheeses) remove to a cutting board and chop into 1/2-1" squares.
fill a bowl with soup, fresh basil and mini grilled cheese croutons. enjoy!

*if you wish to freeze this soup for winter, wait to add the cream until you are ready to eat it.

want to go healthier? we use half cream half almond milk or even all unsweetened almond milk.