Sun-Dried Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

SCRAPS #53: comfort food dot com

If you’re trying to figure out what to do with that year-old jar of sun-dried tomatoes hiding in the back of your pantry, I have an idea: creamy, dreamy tomato soup with a little bit of zhuzh — is that how you spell “jooj”? zchooj? joujh?

To top it all off, we’ll be using the leftover tomato oil to make these tiny cutesy grilled cheese croutons. HOW FUN!!!! It’s a comforting meal perfect for a cozy night in.

Grateful to have you here! Hope you enjoy xx

Carolina

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 50 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Makes 4 servings 

INGREDIENTS

Printable recipe PDF:

Sundried Tomato Soup

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Tomato Soup

• 8.5 ounce (250 g) jar sun-dried tomatoes in oil

• ½ teaspoon black peppercorns

• ½ teaspoon chili flakes

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds

• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped

• Kosher salt

• 3 celery stalks, chopped

• 5 to 6 garlic cloves, crushed

• ¼ cup white wine, such as Pinot Grigio, or water

• 15-ounce (400 g) canned whole tomatoes

• 3 cups water

• ½ cup heavy cream or canned full-fat coconut milk

Grilled Cheese Croutons

• Sliced white bread

• American cheese, gouda, or cheddar

• Kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1

Place a sieve over a small bowl or measuring cup (small enough to hold about ½ cup of oil). Pour the sun-dried tomatoes through the sieve, and let the oil drip in the bowl. Set everything aside.

In a mortar and pestle, add the peppercorns, chili flakes, fennel and coriander. Roughly crush and set aside. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, place the whole spices on a cutting board, place the back of the knife over the spices and gently hit it to open up the spices — similar motion to crushing a garlic clove. Set aside.

Step 2

In a medium pot (3 to 4-quart pot) over medium heat, add ¼ cup olive oil or ¼ cup of the reserved sun-dried tomato oil. Heat for 2 minutes, then add the chopped onions and a hefty pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the onion develops a golden color, and crispy edges, for about 10 to 12 minutes. Lower the heat as needed. If the onion starts browning too fast, add a splash of water and continue cooking.

Once the onion reaches the desired golden color, add in the celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 6 minutes, or until the celery has softened and lost some of its color. Add the crushed garlic cloves, the ground spices and stir everything until fragrant, for about 2 minutes. Keep an eye on the pot, the spices can burn very quickly.

Step 3

Add the strained sun-dried tomatoes and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, mixing everything together. Carefully pour in the ¼ cup of wine or ¼ cup of water to deglaze the pan — the liquid will immediately start bubbling and steaming. Scrape the bottom of the pan to release any caramelized bits. Add the canned tomatoes, the 3 cups of water, more salt and bring everything to a boil.

Lower the heat to low or medium-low and simmer the soup for 15 to 20 minutes.

Step 4

Carefully blend the soup using an immersion blender or a countertop blender (if using a countertop blender, make sure to remove the center plug in the blender lid to allow the steam to escape during the blending process — please do this, I don’t want your blender to explode in your face :) ). Return the blended soup to the pan. Add the heavy cream and stir to combine. Taste and season with more salt, as needed. If you prefer a thinner consistency, add an additional splash of cream or water.

Step 5

To make the grilled cheese sandwich: In a nonstick pan, add a tablespoon of the reserved sun-dried tomato oil. Add one slice of bread, a few cheese slices on top, a light sprinkle of salt, then sandwich another slice of bread on top of the cheese. Cook for about 2 minutes per side, or until crusty and golden, adding more tomato oil as needed. Slice each sandwich into 16 croutons using a serrated knife.

You can make a bunch of these ahead, and reheat them in the oven right (maybe add a drizzle of oil all over before reheating) before serving. I’d say go for 400°F (205°C) for 5 to 8 minutes, or until the cheese looks melty.