Everyone knows about grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. But what about grilled cheese sandwiches in tomato soup? It makes total sense – if you’re one of those who likes to dunk your sandwich into your soup, you already get it. Every spoonful of this tangy, creamy soup has a big, buttery cube of grilled cheese sandwich basking in it.
I got the idea for this soup from a restaurant in nearby Glastonbury, Connecticut called the Spicy Green Bean. It used to be a quirky little place with an innovative menu, closely-packed tables and a deafening noise problem. They moved, and we don’t go there anymore – on our first and only visit at the new location the food was disappointing, and the new larger dining room seemed soulless and stark. (Isn’t it sad how that happens sometimes, when “improvements” take away something essential about the vibe of a place?) Anyway, since we haven’t been back I don’t know if the tomato soup is still on their menu. They used to serve it in a bowl the size of a mixing bowl, with a whole grilled cheese sandwich cubed and piled in the center. John was obsessed.
So I was compelled to recreate it at home. I already make a great Tomato Basil Soup, so for this version all I had to do was cut down on the basil so that it doesn’t clash with the cheese, and swap out some of the chicken broth for a little more cream. Some people might call this soup a bisque – I’m not sure what the distinction is. Call it a bisque or a soup, it’s creamy and thick with a deep, complex tomato flavor and subtle spice. Great on its own, it’s over the top with the addition of grilled cheese croutons.
The sandwich is retro, simple, unsophisticated – in other words, the perfect grilled cheese. White sandwich bread and American cheese are my essentials. This is how my Mom used to make grilled cheese when I was a kid – how about you? – and it’s still the thing I want when I have a cold, or on a winter day after snow-shoeing…or with tomato soup. I use a soft-but-firm, packaged sliced bread – no fancy loaf from the bakery – and for the cheese, Kraft Deli Deluxe.
If you really want to use a fancier cheese, I would allow a sharp Cheddar. But be careful about substitutions for the bread. Nothing too crusty or chewy, and stay away from porous breads like sourdough, which would soak up too much of the soup and get soggy.
Use a serrated knife to cut the sandwiches, first into soldiers and then cubes, being careful not to press down too much so you don’t flatten the cubes. If the top and bottom pieces of bread slide around a little and separate during the process, just nudge them back together in a more-or-less neat stack before scattering them in the soup.
Making this ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- Don’t make the sandwiches ahead – leftover grilled cheese doesn’t keep well. But the soup can be made several days ahead. Rewarm it slowly over medium-low heat on the stove top while you’re grilling the sandwiches, and serve hot.
Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons soft unsalted butter, divided
- 2/3 cup finely minced onion (1 small onion)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 2½ cups chicken broth
- 6 ounces V8 juice
- 28 ounces tomato puree
- 2 tablespoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon hot sauce (such as Tabasco), or more to taste
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 4 slices soft but firm white sandwich bread
- 6 slices of American cheese
Directions
- Step 1 Melt 5 tablespoons of the butter in a medium stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the onion is very soft, about 10 minutes.
- Step 2 When the onion is soft, add the garlic and cook 1 minute.
- Step 3 Stir in the flour, oregano and paprika and cook the mixture for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Meanwhile, heat the chicken broth in the microwave for 3 minutes.
- Step 4 Add the hot broth and stir with a whisk until the mixture comes to a simmer. The mixture should be thick and smooth, with no lumps of flour.
- Step 5 Add the V8, tomato puree, honey and hot sauce. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then maintain it at a low simmer, stir frequently, making sure to scrape the entire bottom of the pot so the soup doesn’t stick to the pot.
- Step 6 After the soup has been simmering for about 15 minutes, start making the sandwiches. Heat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Spread one side of each slice of the bread with remaining butter, dividing it evenly and spreading it out to cover the entire surface of the bread. Lay two slices of bread on the griddle, butter side down. Lay the cheese slices over the bread, arranging the slices to fit on the bread. Top each sandwich with another piece of bread, butter side up. Cook the sandwiches until the bottoms are golden brown and the cheese is starting to melt, 5 to 7 minutes. Flip the sandwiches, turn the heat up to medium and cook until the other side is golden brown. Remove the sandwiches to a cutting board.
- Step 7 Add the cream and basil to the soup and continue to simmer while you cut the sandwiches. Use a serrated knife to carefully cut them into strips about 1½ inches wide and then into cubes.
- Step 8 Taste the soup and adjust the seasonings. Ladle the soup into large, shallow bowls and scatter the grilled cheese croutons in the center of each bowl, dividing evenly.
