Roasted Tomato Soup with Open-faced Toasted Cheese
Oh it was a tomato soup and toasted cheese week, it really was. Chased down with a big juicy zin.
I wished after this that someone would give me a bath, read me some stories and tuck me in bed. And tomorrow morning, I want cartoons and a bottomless bowl of Harvest Crunch.
I wanted this the minute I saw it. It turned out to be a perfect use for the roasted tomatoes I so thoughtfully refrained from eating straight off the baking sheet and froze to use in future soups and salads. They met with their intended destiny! Yay me.
I was too lazy to follow a recipe, but this is the great thing about soup – you don’t really need to follow one. Throw stuff in that pot, get started on the wine, and everything will come out hunky-dory. Especially when there’s toasted cheese on top. The original called for a bit of grated onion in the toasted cheese part, and I kind of wish I hadn’t skipped that part – next time I’ll grate the onion for the soup, and save some for the sandwiches. Contrary to how the above photo must look – like marbled cheese – this wound up making delicious use of cheese ends – aged cheddar and a nutty white cow’s milk cheese we got at Kensington market and I wish I could remember the name of.
Writing this, I’m thinking a spoonful of pesto in the soup would have been great, too. Or spread on the toast before scattering it with grated cheese.
Roasted Tomato Soup with Open-faced Toasted Cheese
canola or olive oil
a big dab of butter
1 onion, chopped or grated (if grated, reserve a bit)
a few garlic cloves, crushed
lots of roasted plum tomatoes (about a dozen?)
a can of fire-roasted or diced tomatoes
1 L chicken or veggie stock
a splash of cream
salt and pepperToasted Cheese:
thickly sliced crusty bread
butter
grated cheeseIn a soup pot, heat a drizzle of oil and a blob of butter and sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the tomatoes – roasted and canned – and the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and let cook for half an hour, until slightly thickened and everything is soft. Add a splash of cream and whiz it all with a hand-held immersion blender right in the pot, off the heat. Season with salt and pepper and divide between oven-proof bowls set on a rimmed baking sheet.
Meanwhile, toast the bread, butter it, and set atop the soup. Sprinkle with a bit of grated onion (if you like) and grated cheese. Run under the broiler for a couple minutes, until melty and golden.
October 28 2011 | soup and vegetarian | 12 Comments »
