Tomato Soup with Cheddar Cheese Crackers and Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Here are three of my favorite foods, tomato soup, cheese crackers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Easy to make and delicious, this menu can easily be made for lunch, dinner or the surprise dinner guests.
Ingredients
For the Soup:
4-6 roma tomatoes, quartered
1 Italian style tomato paste (6 oz can)
1 cup fresh basil leaves
4 garlic cloves
1 small onion, chopped
4 cups water
2 chicken bullion cubes
For the Cheddar Cheese Crackers:
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup butter cut into pieces
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp mustard powder
2 tbsp cold water
For the Grilled Cheese Sandwiches:
8 slices soft bread
8 slices cheddar cheese (divided between 4 sandwiches)
6 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
1
To make the tomato soup: Combine the tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh basil leaves, garlic cloves, chopped small onion, water and chicken bullion cubes in your blender and puree everything together until smooth.
2
Pour the mixture into a sauce pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust salt and pepper as needed.
3
To make the cheddar cheese crackers: Place cheese, butter, flour, cornmeal, salt, chili powder and mustard powder in a food processor, pulse together until everything is combined.
4
Add the water one tablespoon at a time until the mixture pulls together into a soft dough ball.
5
Roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment paper to about 1/4 of an inch thick. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to firm the dough.
6
Spray the top of the chilled cracker dough with vegetable spray and sprinkle with flake salt. Lightly spray the top of the cracker dough again with vegetable spray.
7
Cut into desired shapes and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until they are golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the crackers cool complete before breaking up and servings.
8
To make the grilled cheese sandwiches: Divide the butter and olive oil into 8 portions.
9
Heat a sauté pan and melt one portion of the butter and oil in the pan. Place the bread in the melted butter mixture and top with cheese and the other slice of bread.
10
When the bread is golden, remove the sandwich from the pan and add another portion of the butter and oil letting it melt. Turn the sandwich over and place in the melted butter. Continue grilling until golden brown.
11
Remove, slice into slices (so you can dip in the soup easier) and serve on the side of the tomato soup.
