Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Caprese Sandwiches

The Philadelphia Marathon is in 8 days.  How is that possible?  Even though I have been training for 17 weeks now, I feel like I am not prepared. The thought of running 26.2 miles (and hopefully setting a PR) seems impossible to me.  I know come race day I will feel differently, but I cant help but be anxious!

Since the marathon is only one week away I decided that it would be best to take it easy and get some rest.  and what a more perfect way to do so than to stay in on a Friday night to make grilled cheese and tomato soup with your best friend?  Sure I may be a loser but I embrace it….and in case you were wondering we absolutely did not watch the first Harry Potter movie after dinner.

I saw a recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup with Sweet Onions adapted from the Eating Well recipe.

Ingredients:

For the Soup:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
• Roasted Tomatoes, recipe follows
• salt and ground pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

For the Tomatoes:

• 3 lbs stewed tomatoes (canned)
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried basil

Directions:

For the soup: Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook stirring often and reducing heat as needed to prevent scorching, until onion is soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add white wine to pan and increase the heat to high; boil until the liquid is evaporated, 2-3 minutes.

Add broth and the tomatoes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan used to roast the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.

In a blender or food processor, puree the soup, in batches if necessary, until smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the half and half. Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with parsley, and serve with toasted sourdough.

For the tomatoes: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet. Mix the oil and remaining ingredients and spoon it over the tomatoes. Bake until the tomatoes are soft and wrinkled, about 1 hour.

Serves 4 (we doubled the recipe)

I also got to use my new Immersion Blender for the first time tonight! WOOHOO. Talk about EXCITING. But seriously, it was.  It makes things so much more convenient this way…never again will I have to pour soup into a blender or food processor.  Talk about a better life.  This is my friend Ali using the immersion blender…

The soup cooking on the stove…

We also made Grilled Caprese Sandwiches…

Lauren and I bought really good bread from a market by our school called Belvedere Market.  The bread was delicious…homemade and fresh.  We took two slices of bread and buttered one side of each slice and on the other sides we spread pesto.  On the pesto-side of the bread we placed a piece of fresh mozzarella cheese followed by slices of tomato and more mozzarella cheese.  Then we placed the slices of bread together, stuck them in a panini press for a few minutes and there you have it…a grilled caprese sandwich!  SO GOOD!  Especially when dipped in tomato soup

**note** make sure you get the best of ingredients for the sandwiches (especially with the bread and mozzarella!!)—it makes the difference in taste, trust me!

This is Lauren’s boyfriend Matt (and Brian in the background haha).  We all had a fun time making dinner together and everything was delicious!  A perfect, comforting dinner for a relaxing Friday night!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

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Tagged as: caprese sandwich, grilled cheese, Mozzarella, Pesto, tomato soup, tomatoes