Go Back
Print

Roasted Tomato and Mascarpone Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

Ingredients

Roasting the Tomatoes

  • 2 pounds mixed variety tomatoes halved
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil - enough to coat the tomatoes
  • sprinkle of salt

For the Soup

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves minced
  • 1 small white onion diced
  • 3 cups vegetable stock
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 - 1 teaspoon salt
  • pinch of pepper
  • 4 ounces mascarpone
  • 4 pieces sliced bread
  • 4 slices American cheese
  • 2-3 tablespoons butter
  • basil for garnish if desired

Instructions

For the Soup

  1. Preheat oven to 325
  2. Add tomatoes to a parchment paper lined baking sheet, toss with olive oil and sprinkle with salt
  3. Roast at 325 for 1 hour - time will vary according to size of tomatoes, but you want them soft
  4. Cool enough to handle and pull the peel off
  5. In a Dutch oven over medium heat melt the butter into the olive oil, add onions, cook for 2-3 minutes, add garlic, and cook another minute
  6. Add roasted tomatoes, vegetable stock, sugar, salt and pepper, bring to a boil, reduce, and simmer for 30-45 minutes
  7. Stir in mascarpone until mostly melted and mix with a hand blender until smooth - you can use a regular blender, but you'll want to work in batches
  8. Strain soup through a fine mesh sieve to remove seeds
  9. Return to pot, adjust seasonings

For the Grilled Cheese Croutons

  1. You can totally make your grilled cheese the way your mama taught you, but this is what I did
  2. Melt 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons of butter in a nonstick skillet over medium to low heat, add 2 pieces of bread, then 2 pieces of cheese on each, top with remaining 2 slices of bread
  3. When the bottom is golden brown and cheese is melty, flip until the other side is also golden brown and cheese it toatlly melted - if there is not enough butter left in the pan, I just remove both sandwiches from the pan, melt some more butter, and finish the uncooked side
  4. Cut into bite sized pieces

To Serve

  1. Transfer soup to bowls, toss in grilled cheese croutons, garnish with basil if desired