Quick Tomato Soup With Grilled Cheese
When done well, this age-old combination can be exactly what you want. Here, the cooking is as easy as the eating: While you get the soup started in a pot with a can of tomatoes and little more than onion and butter (in the style of Marcella Hazan’s famous tomato sauce), you assemble and pan-fry the sandwiches. The particular joy of these lies in their soft, quiet flavors: A thin layer of mayonnaise spread on the inside of the bread heats with the mozzarella, a mild cheese that lets you taste the bread and butter as they are. With a filling this rich and gooey, you want a delicate sweet enriched loaf like brioche or milk bread.
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 1(28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
- ¾cup chicken or vegetable broth, plus more as needed
- 1large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
- 4tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 ½teaspoons dried oregano
- 1teaspoon granulated sugar
- Salt and black pepper
- Mayonnaise
- 8slices brioche or milk bread, crusts removed
- 1cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella (4 ounces)
- ¼teaspoon dried oregano
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
Step 1
Make the soup: Dump the canned tomatoes and their juices into a medium pot and using your hands, tear into coarse chunks. Swish the broth in the empty tomato can and add to the pot.Step 2
Stir in the onion, butter, oregano and sugar and season generously with salt and pepper. Turn the heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender and the tomatoes have broken down, 15 to 20 minutes.Step 3
Meanwhile, make the sandwiches: Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on one side of each slice of bread and evenly sprinkle the cheese and a little oregano on the mayonnaise side of 4 slices. Top with the cheeseless slices, mayonnaise-side down.Step 4
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium. Add the sandwiches and cook until golden brown on the bottoms, 2 to 3 minutes. Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the pan, then flip the sandwiches with a spatula, move them around to coat with the butter and cook until the other side is golden brown and the cheese is melted, 1 to 2 minutes. Turn heat to lowest setting to keep sandwiches warm.Step 5
Carefully purée the tomato soup using a blender until smooth and creamy, adding more broth if needed to loosen to your desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the grilled cheeses to a cutting board and cut each in half diagonally. Serve alongside the soup.