Grilled cheese with tomato soup

Ingredients

• 1kg tomatoes, quartered
• 1/3 cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 100g butter
• 2 brown onions, chopped
• pinch of salt
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup (250ml) chicken stock
• 12 basil leaves
• 2 cups (200g) mozzarella, grated
• 1 ⅔ cup (200g) smoked cheddar, grated
• 8 thick slices sourdough

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan forced (200C conventional).
2. Place tomatoes on a large oven tray. Drizzle with half the oil and sprinkle with a good pinch of salt.
3. Roast for 20 minutes.
4. Heat remaining oil and half the butter together in a large saucepan on medium heat.
5. Add the chopped onions and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes, until softened.
6. Add garlic, cook, stirring for 10 minutes.
7. Remove tomatoes from oven, transfer to saucepan.
8. Deglaze oven tray with some of the stock to remove any tomato stuck to it.
9. Add remaining stock to the saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring, for 5 minutes.
10. While the soup is simmering, butter one side of each bread slice.
11. Heat a medium frying pan on medium. Place a slice of bread, buttered side down in the pan.
12. Top with 1/4 of the mozzarella and 1/4 of the cheddar.
13. Top with another slice of bread, buttered side facing up.
14. Press bread down with a protein press, cook for 1-2 minutes, until golden brown.
15. Flip the grilled cheese over and cook the other side, pressed down, until golden brown and cheese melted.
16. Transfer the grilled cheese to a tray to keep warm and repeat with remaining bread and cheese.
17. Remove soup from heat and puree with a stick blender. Add the basil leaves and puree with stick blender again.
18. Serve your soup in a bowl, drizzle with some EVOO and garnish with a few basil leaves and serve alongside your grilled cheese. Enjoy!

Recipe notes