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 pepper

Toasted Cheese:
thickly sliced crusty bread
butter
grated cheese

In 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.

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October 28 2011 08:44 pm | soup and vegetarian

11 Responses to “Roasted Tomato Soup with Open-faced Toasted Cheese”

Christine on 28 Oct 2011 at 8:54 pm #

I am totally making this ASAP. Thanks Julie. I loved your pics from the other night, very spookyish.
Kristy Lynn @ Gastronomical Sovereignty on 29 Oct 2011 at 12:46 am #

how much do i love that you chased cheesy bread soup with wine? Be still my heart! Love it!
Kalyn on 29 Oct 2011 at 7:03 am #

That soup looks outstanding! Such a great comfort-food combination.
Merry120 on 29 Oct 2011 at 9:43 am #

Yum! After a week on the road, a bowl of homemade soup sounds divine.
Terri on 29 Oct 2011 at 10:57 am #

Hi Julie, that looks delicious. I have never roasted tomatoes before so I will have to Google that. Nothing beats homemade tomato soup and cheese toast (as I call it). I could live on cheese toast. Tonight I am making your pizza dough recipe with the beans in it that I got out of the Herald this week.

Terri
Nicole on 29 Oct 2011 at 3:57 pm #

My stomach just growled. But I have a question – how do you roast tomatoes? For how long? And do you put oil on them or anything?
Fiona on 29 Oct 2011 at 3:58 pm #

Oh, that looks so good! We had tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches the other night. It’s perfect Mom Food. Especially when you have a cold.
Kris on 30 Oct 2011 at 11:20 am #

would like to hear more about freezing roasted tomatoes…I still have half a box of ripening garden tomatoes to do something with
Tuesday linkage. « All I Eat Food! on 31 Oct 2011 at 9:31 pm #

[...] Does grilled cheese and tomato soup bring you back to your childhood? Why not try this soup and sandwich [...]
Manon from ONtario on 08 Nov 2011 at 7:19 am #

This is definitely comfort food….looking forward to making this soon

Thx,
MFO
Laurie M on 08 Nov 2011 at 2:03 pm #

Made this last night…did the cheese bread on the side as I didn’t want the kids bowls to get too hot. So yummy!!! Best use of my chicken stock I had made the night before and tomatoes that needed to be used.