Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

The Ultimate “Make You Feel Better” Food

Very seldom do I get sick, and usually it is nothing more than a case of the sniffles that slows me down for a couple of days. The first sign of any kind of sinus pressure and I am in the kitchen making my favorite comfort food. Creamy Tomato Basil Soup is just what I need to make myself feel better, and who can possibly eat tomato soup without a grill cheese sandwich? That would just be wrong….I mean what is possibly better to dip in creamy tomato goodness than a crispy, buttery, cheesy, sandwich nirvana….And did I mention that it would just be WRONG?

There are several important components that make the perfect grill cheese. The first, and possibly the most important, is BACON. That’s right, bacon. You are going to want to cook your bacon in the oven on a sheet pan. This will keep you from having much shrinkage and you will render the fat without getting all those little, black burnt pieces. On an aluminum lined sheet pan in a 350° oven, it should take about 30 minutes to cook your bacon perfectly.

While your bacon is in the oven, let’s go ahead and start the soup. The ingredients are simple:

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

• 2 quarts of canned crushed tomatoes (home canned is best, but you can use 2 28oz. store bought cans)

• 2 cups of chicken stock (again, homemade is best, but you can substitute a can of store bought)

• 1/2 cup basil leaves chopped

• 1 cup of heavy cream

• 1/2 cup of butter

In a large saucepan, bring the tomatoes and stock to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium low and stir in the basil, cream, and butter until the butter is melted. Turn your heat down to low and let it sit, covered, while you finish the other half of this simple masterpiece.

And now back to the sandwich…

Once your bacon is done, take it off of your sheet pan and place it on a paper towel to absorb any excess grease. Then pour all the rendered fat that is on the pan into a small container.

Now, take two slices of bread (you should totally try my Simple Sourdough Bread recipe for this) and place them on the sheet pan that you used to make the bacon. Yes, you read that right, we are going to use that awesome bacon fat as the oil for our sandwich. The best bread to use is thick sliced bread, but use whatever you normally use.

The next step is the cheese. I like to use 2 slices, one yellow and one white. Usually, I use Colby and Pepper Jack because they seem to melt at about the same rate. If you put the bacon between the cheeses, everything holds together perfectly.

Going for the gold (en crust)

OK, now, using a pastry brush, brush a little more of that bacon fat yumminess on the top piece of bread. Sprinkle just a little (or however much that you think you want) onion powder and garlic powder on the bread.

Place the sandwich, seasoning side down, onto a hot skillet. While the first side is browning, and starting to smell amazing, brush the top side with bacon fat and sprinkle with seasoning. Flip the sandwich and let the second side brown.

All that and a bowl of soup….

The best way to eat this meal is to cut the sandwich into 2 triangles. This gives you maximum dipping possibilities. I promise, if you have the sniffles, make this and you will feel better! It will not cure a cold, but it will comfort your soul.

#comfortfood #tomatosoup #soupandgrilledcheese #appetizer