Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese. If you imagine a texture wheel, they both would be on the opposite end of the wheel. But, that’s the beauty of life. Opposites meet and taste amazing in our mouths. That might not be the takeaway you were expecting. But, I’m saying is this combo often goes unnoticed and only surfaces when one of us is suffering from the wrath of a stuffy nose and a itchy throat. I like Tomato soup relatively thin and so I filtered it twice, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. If you are sick or making this for someone who’s sick, try to use sourdough bread as their tastes buds might have gone numb. The funky tang from the bread will just wake it right up!
Ingredients
For the Tomato Soup:
- 1-2 tbsp of Oil
- 3 small onions or 1 large one (Diced)
- 4-5 cloves of garlic (Crushed)
- A thumb-sized piece of ginger (Sliced)
- One small carrot (Thinly sliced)
- 4-5 medium-sized tomatoes (Diced)
- 4-5 Peppercorns
- 3 Cloves
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2 tsps of Turmeric
- 1 tbsp of Cream
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- One tbsp of Coriander (Chopped)
For the Grilled Cheese:
- 2 slices of bread (Sourdough is preferred)
- Softened butter
- 2-3 processed cheese slices (American cheese is preferred)
Procedure
- In a hot saucepan, add oil. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger. Sauté till they are translucent. Now, add the carrots, tomatoes and a little bit of salt to help break them down quicker. Cook them for 30 more seconds on med-high heat.
- Add the peppercorns, cloves, turmeric, and bay leaf. Mix well and add just enough water to cover the veg. Cover and cook until everything is soft.
- Once the water has reduced, transfer the soup mixture to a tray or a large plate to allow it to cool quickly. Once cooled, blend to a smooth puree in a blender.
- Sieve the soup in a strainer. Add some water to thin it out. Bring it up to a boil. Remove the foam/scum which rises to top with a spoon or ladle. Turn off the heat and filter it once again. This time, by just tapping the sieve repeatedly.
- Finish the soup by adding the cream, salt to taste, and black pepper powder. Finish with chopped coriander and set aside.
- Apply the softened butter to one side of each bread slice and toast them in the frying pan on low heat. Add the cheese slices and close the sandwich in the pan, and cook on low heat until the cheese is melted.
- Slice the sandwich diagonally and serve it with the hot soup.