Roasted Tomato Soup & Cheddar Panini

Dinner Ideas

Audio By Carbonatix

Roasted Tomato Soup  & Cheddar Panini 

Served: 4-6 

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, plus ½ cup (1 stick) at room temperature, divided

1 medium red onion, chopped

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 28-oz. cans crushed fire-roasted tomatoes

4 cups chicken stock

2 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons sugar

½ cup heavy cream or half & half

16 slices sourdough or country bread

16 ounces sharp cheddar, grated

creme frâiche, for serving 

A few notes on making this: 

• I love my stick blender for this and other blended soups—it purées so easily without the pain of transferring hot soup into a blender, which can be tricky and a bit dangerous if the soup hasn’t cooled enough. 
• I don’t use a ton of specialty items in my kitchen, but I will say that a panini press has been invaluable, especially with kids to make a quick grilled cheese or quesadilla when needed. I love my panini press when I make grilled sandwiches to go with this soup. 
  
  
• You can add cream to this soup at the end for a luxurious texture, but half & half also works nicely. 
  
  

Directions:

• Heat 4 Tbsp. butter in a Dutch oven or medium stockpot over medium heat. 
• Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened and lightly browned around the edges, 8–10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. 
• Add tomato paste and cook, stirring to coat onion, until tomato paste is slightly darkened in color, about 2 minutes. 
• Add canned tomatoes, chicken stock, thyme, bay leaf, and sugar and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper and cook until flavors are combined, 35–40 minutes. 
• Remove from heat and stir in cream or half & half. 
• Remove thyme stems and bay leaf and let cool slightly. 
• Purée with a stick blender until smooth, or batch small amounts into a blender. 
• Heat a panini press or dry skillet over medium heat. Dividing evenly, spread room-temperature butter over bread slices. 
• Top unbuttered side of 8 slices with cheddar, dividing evenly. 
• Top with remaining bread, buttered side up, and cook, turning once, until bread is golden brown and cheese is melted, about 3 minutes per side. 
• Cut sandwiches into soldiers and serve alongside hot soup for dipping.