Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

Warm-up with a cup of tomato soup topped with crispy grilled cheese croutons! This homemade tomato soup is packed with red-orange veggies and is the perfect meal for those cold winter nights!

Ingredient

TOMATO SOUP:

• 1 onion, yellow, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 glove minced garlic
• Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes with oregano, onion, and garlic
• 14.5 ounce can chicken broth
• ½ cup half and half
• ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper
• Crushed red pepper (optional)

GRILLED CHEESE CROUTONS:

• Sliced whole wheat bread
• Sliced cheese
• Butter
• Garlic Powder

Instructions

TOMATO SOUP

1. Sauté onion and red pepper in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until softened over medium-high heat. Add minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
2. Add tomato paste to sautéed vegetables. Stir until well combined. Cook for 1 minute.
3. Add crushed tomatoes, chicken broth salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low. Allow mixture to simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Using an immersion blender, blend soup until smooth.
5. Add half and half and parmesan cheese just before serving.

GRILLED CHEESE CROUTONS

1. Heat skillet over medium heat. While the pan is heating, butter sliced bread on one side and lightly sprinkle buttered side with garlic powder.
2. Place buttered side down on heated skillet. Place one slice of cheese on the unbuttered side and then place another slice of buttered garlic bread, butter side up over the cheese.
3. Grill sandwich until slightly brown and then flip using a spatula in order to grill the opposite side.
4. Once both sides are grilled, remove from skillet onto a cutting board. Cut the sandwich into bite-size pieces to make “croutons”.
5. Serve grilled cheese croutons over the top of tomato soup.

Picture credit to: chatelaine