Grilled Bacon, Swiss, Goat Cheese and Spinach Sandwich with Roasted Tomato Soup

One of the most under appreciated meals in the south, or even in the US as a whole, is the grilled cheese sandwich with a cup/bowl of tomato soup.  Now I know that too many moms out there used the old canned or packaged soup mix.  But it really is a simple dish to make.  Might have quite a few ingredients, but for all practical purposes, it is a dump in the pot dish that only needs to be blended.  You can do this with an immersion blender or use a kitchen blender and do a little bit at a time.  This reminds me of a story where a friend of mine who read an old blog post of mine that had the same soup recipe in it and decided he needed an immersion blender.  His wife posted their very animated text conversation.  Needless to say, that when he gave himself the chance to think it through, he was going to purchase “The Big Stick” at a cost of over $400.00.  She did, however, convince him otherwise.  In her mind, and I agree, there is no need for a “Big Stick” in the kitchen.  At least not one that works with 120 volts, but I digress.  One can purchase a very effective and usable immersion blender at most department stores for under $50.00, and probably closer to $30.00.  This should not be an issue to really stress over.  However, with regards to my friend Jason, it made for a very good laugh.

As always, I like to put my epicurean spin on things, so both my tomato soup and grill cheese get boosted up a notch in flavor.  While a basic grill cheese on white bread with Kraft© American Singles seems to be a common theme in many kitchens, I can’t emphasize enough how flavorless, not to mention unhealthy, that combination is.  There are a multitude of bakery made multi grain breads that have phenomenal flavor.   And there are too many cheeses to name.  This should be something you have fun with.  Personally, I like to add bacon to mine, as well as experiment with different cheeses, and/or a combination of cheeses.  Don’t hesitate to add bacon to it, either.  And while there probably is a grey area in the difference between a grilled cheese and a Panini, I’m not too sure that I know, nor really care.

So this is going to be our lunch today.  Grilled Bacon, Swiss, Goat Cheese and Spinach on a House Made Multi Grain Bread, with Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup.  Because the sandwich is pretty self-explanatory, I’ll not go into too much detail on it.  What I will offer is that a home size Panini press is probably the greatest purchase (because we have kiddos) that my wife and I have made.  One makes for a quick grilled cheese and easy cleanup.  We bought a Breville at Sur La Table for a very reasonable price, but there are plenty of very good and very inexpensive ones out there.  If you don’t have one, don’t despair.  A hot skillet still works just as well.  Just make sure you use real butter or olive oil.  Margarine and/or shortening just don’t have the same flavor, and is a might worse in the health department.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

Ingredients

10 tomatoes (medium size, heirlooms are best, but any will work)

2 medium size onions – large dice

1 large carrots – roughly chopped

1 roasted red bell pepper

5-6 cloves fresh garlic

3-4 strips of bacon – chopped

2 Tbsp veggie oil (I use 80% Canola/20% Olive)

1.5 qt chicken stock

½ cup heavy cream

¼ cup lemon juice

1 Tbsp dried Basil

1 Tbsp dried Oregano

1 Tsp dried Thyme

¼ cup Fresh Basil – rough chop

1 Tsp – Chipotle chili powder (more if you like it spicey)

1 Tsp – Ancho chili powder

2 Tsp – Ground Coriander

Kosher salt and white pepper to taste

And for the chef’s super-secret recipe – ¼ cup ketchup (I know, it just doesn’t sound right, but it works, so why argue the point).  Adds both color and flavor.  If you use Ancho Ketchup, avoid the tsp of ancho powder in the main recipe.

OK.  So it looks like a lot of ingredients.  Yeah, well, the only necessary ingredients are the tomatoes, onions, garlic, fat/oil, and salt and pepper.  With that base, you can add anything you want to make a tomato soup (chopped rosemary, for example).  So if you don’t have something, don’t despair.  Just play with your seasonings and add a few things until it tastes right.

Method

Roast the tomatoes and red bell pepper on the grill (or in the oven) until they become somewhat soft and have charred grill marks.  Heat your soup pot on med-high, add the veggie oil and bacon and sauté until the bacon is ¾ cooked.  Add the onion and carrots and continue to sauté for 3 minutes.  Now add your dried herbs (Basil, Oregano, and Thyme).  You can stir these around the pot get them to release their aromas and flavors.  Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Turn down the heat a bit and reduce the liquid by almost half.  Add the garlic cloves and cook for 10 more minutes.  Now at this point, you want to puree the entire mix with the fresh Basil.  If you have an immersion blender, you can use that, or you can transfer to a blender by a bit at a time until you have pureed all of it.  Once this has been done, add the lemon juice and cream.  If using the immersion blender, continue to mix.  If you went the blender route, get a whisk and whisk in the cream and lemon juice.  Continue to keep the burner on medium through this process.  Add the chipotle and ancho chili powders, the ground coriander, and the salt and pepper until the flavors are where you want them.

This is truly a soup where you essentially add the vegetables, cook them down a bit, add the rest of the ingredients and blend them all up.  Feel free to play with this recipe and adjust the tastes to your liking.  Personally, I’d add more chipotle at home, as I like the added heat.   I think a jalapeno or a Serrano pepper would also be nice added to this as well.

NOTE:  To make this vegetarian, leave out the bacon and chicken stock.  Use a bit more oil and vegetable stock.  For Vegan, you can add Cauliflower and parsnip at the same time you add the carrots instead of cream.  Won’t have the same texture, but it will be close.

Restaurant Chef Tip:  To get the white swirly stuff on top of the soup like in the picture, I reduce about 1 cup of sour cream with ¼ cup of dry sherry to a creamy consistency.  Transfer to a piping tube (like a ketchup or mustard tube you see at hamburger joints), and slowly squeeze it out while moving your hand in a circle above the soup bowl.  To add one more fancy, smancy look to it, you can drag a small paring knife blade in straight lines across the bowl.  It makes it look like you know what you are doing. 

Have fun and enjoy.  Let me know how this works for you. 

Enjoy!