Creamy Tomato Soup + Cauliflower Crust Grilled Cheese

Eating soup in the summer is an act of defiance — especially during a heatwave.
I’m not talking about eating cold soups such as gazpacho or vichyssoise. I’ve never been a fan of gazpacho. It makes me wish I had tortilla chips while at the same wondering why I am eating salsa with a spoon.
I’m talking about hot soups what warm you from the inside out. Soups you crave when the wind is howling outside, snow is falling, and all you want to do is curl up on the couch with a blanket and a warming bowl of homemade soup.
But when outside it’s 95º and humid, with not even a hint of breeze, and clouds of mosquitoes hum looking for breakfast, eating hot soup means disobedience.
That’s the kind of rebel I am.

To me rebelling is more than just standing out from the pack. It’s about establishing my identity and making others notice me.
I, for one, am sick of following the herd and feeling ordinary.
It’s not like I need to prove myself to anyone, or that I force myself to be a rebel because it’s cool. I’m a rebel because I enjoy defying things and because I don’t want to live inside the lines.
And forget about tattoos, piercing, drugs, or getting wasted at 10am. Eating hot soup during the summer: that’s a revolutionary act.
Ha!

All kidding aside, there’s something very back-to-school-ish about tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. I know it’s still August, but around me everyone seems to be talking about back to school — and with “everyone” I mean radio, TV, newspapers.
I remember how excited I was to go back to school each year. I can’t say it was the yearning to learn that fueled my excitement. It was the chance to see all of my friends every day.

Going back to school meant a whole bunch of ‘stuff’. Including tomato soup.
It’s funny, you know, when I talk about the “classic homey foods,” the “best childhood memory meals,” tomato soup comes immediately to mind.
This is my granny’s old fashioned tomato soup recipe. I streamlined it to make it work for me — using canned roasted tomato instead of fresh ones, and cutting on the fat — still delicious.
I paired it with my cauliflower crust grilled cheese, and it was an epic meal.
I don’t use the word ‘epic’ lightly, but this meal really was epic. And revolutionary too.

Creamy Tomato Soup + Cauliflower Crust Grilled Cheese                      Print this recipe!

Ingredients
Serves 4

Tomato Soup

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 28-oz. cans crushed fire-roasted tomatoes
2 cups / 500ml vegetable broth
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
4 tablespoons heavy cream
Fine grain sea salt
Freshly ground pepper

To make the Cauliflower Crust Grilled Cheese follow this recipe

Directions

In a medium pot (or Dutch oven) melt the butter over medium heat.
Add onion and cook, stirring every so often, until softened and golden, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper. Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat onion.
Add canned tomatoes, vegetable broth, thyme, bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer.
Cook for about 35 to 40 minutes, until slightly reduced and flavors have blended.
Remove from the heat, remove bay leaf and thyme sprig, and stir in heavy cream.
Let cool slightly and working in batches purée the soup until smooth. Blend on low, being sure to let steam escape. Blending hot soup is a little dangerous so be careful! When you're done blending it all, transfer it back to the soup pot.
Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender to purée the soup. Again, be careful.
Make the cauliflower crust grilled cheese, cut in half and serve alongside hot soup for dipping.

Nutrition facts

One serving of soup yields 189 calories, 11 grams of fat, 19 grams of carbs, 4 grams of protein.