One of our classic meals for a weekend in the mountains is simple and satisfying. Who can resist dunking a perfectly grilled buttery sandwich filled with stretchy Annato-stained cheese into a smooth, rich bowl of tomato soup? The key for maximum enjoyment lies in the canned tomatoes and the bread used. Read on to learn which brands yield the very best versions of grilled cheese in tomato soup.
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| Tomato soup garnished with scallion blossoms; Grilled colby cheese sandwiches on Giant Eagle peppercorn-parmesan bread. |
The March 2008 issue of Taunton's Fine Cooking magazine focused on classic comfort foods ranging from macaroni & cheese and roasted chicken to silky tomato soups and chocolate ganache, and even how to make French bread at home. Each recipe gave some basic techniques and variations of sauces or toppings to customize the flavor. While my family voted thumbs down on Creamy Tomato Soup with Basil Coulis, and we developed our signature Mac & Cheese from another source, the Classic Tomato Soup from this issue was a keeper.
Over the past 16 years, we have experimented with different brands of tomatoes, and modified the recipe until the texture and taste was consistently everything we would want in a tomato soup. The soup is so smooth and comforting that no cream is necessary, and it makes for a surprisingly healthy and ultimately satisfying meal coupled with my husband's perfected grilled cheese.
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| Ingredients for homemade tomato soup. You can use whole tomatoes in sauce or crushed tomatoes. |
Three simple steps to tomato soup perfection
Tomato soup can be divided into three basic steps. First onions and garlic are softened in a butter-olive oil combo. Next stir in flour and cook for about a minute to create a light roux-like coating on the onions.
Then the tomatoes, broth and seasonings are added and the soup simmered.
Finally, everything is blended to a perfect velvety smoothness.
The right tomatoes
Obviously, the soup flavor and appearance are strongly influenced by the taste and color of the canned tomatoes used. Early on, we discovered we preferred tomato soup made using Dei Fratello whole canned tomatoes, but did not like the taste of Muir Glen organic whole peeled tomatoes, the brand highlighted in the article.
A closer examination revealed the following information:
Dei Fratello ingredients: Tomatoes, tomato juice, citric acid, calcium chloride. Salt content of 1/2 cup = 20 mg; sugar content of 1/2 cup = 4 g.
Muir Glen ingredients: Organic whole tomatoes, organic tomato juice, sea salt, citric acid, calcium chloride. Salt content of 1/2 cup = 190 mg; sugar content of 1/2 cup = 3 g.
Then in the middle years, in the throes of child-rearing, we did not pay that much attention to what can of tomatoes we grabbed. The recipe is so classic that it always tasted good, even if the color ranged from red to orange. However, it was during this period that we discovered, and then lost, the absolute best bread for grilled cheese (See below).
Recently, I was able to obtain an incredibly inexpensive can of imported tomatoes from the Penn Mac store in Pittsburgh. For only $1.99, I got some Ciao Pomodori Pelati Italiani in succo di pomodero that was nearing its best by date. The ingredients are San Marzano D.o.p. Plum Peeled tomatoes in San Marzano D.o.p. Tomato Puree.
This soup was so delicious! But this brand of tomato is not consistently available. So we grabbed a can of Cento All Purpose Crushed Tomatoes. What attracted us to these tomatoes was the very simple ingredient list: just vine-ripened crushed tomatoes. Although the recipe called for whole tomatoes, we figured it was going to be blended anyways, so why not try crushed?
This made the best version of tomato soup that we have made over the past 16 years. Wow!!!
Not only did it blend down into the most velvety smooth soup with a rich color and texture, but also the best tomato flavor embraced the tongue, wrapping itself around each morsel of grilled cheese.
It was not until a few days later, when I was straightening up the kitchen for guests that I noticed the untouched little dish containing the 1/2 tablespoon (6.25 g) of sugar that my husband had measured out for me by the stove. I had completely forgotten to add the sugar, but no one noticed.
Was it because adding sugar made the previous 16 years of soup not taste as good? Or was it because these tomatoes were better and sweeter than the ones of the past? A quick examination of the Cento Crushed Tomatoes label resolves that question. Salt content of 1/2 cup = 40 mg; sugar content of 1/2 cup = 8 g, or twice that of the next sweetest brand with no added salt or sugar.
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| Cento tomato soup and grilled colby on Market District Country Boule (with touch of rye) |
Good news is that Cento brand is widely available. At either Whole Foods or Penn Mac, it is $3.99 a can, and at Giant Eagle, $3.69-4.69.
The best bread and cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches
Breads
Loafers Bread Company up in Wexford, PA (with branches in several other locations in the Pittsburgh area) bakes the most delicious breads, scones and granola. The red wheat flour grown in their Minnesota farm and milled fresh before baking in the back of the shop yields the most delicious whole grain breads I have ever tasted -- no dense, heavy crumb here! We particularly enjoy their Sunflower Whole Wheat, Honey Whole Wheat and Dakota Oatbread.
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| Bacon, avocado, tomato grilled Muenster cheese on Loafer's sunflower whole wheat bread |
Needless to say, our earliest grilled cheese sandwiches were made using Sunflower Whole Wheat or Honey Whole Wheat. These yielded a hearty, buttery base for stretchy, melted longhorn Colby cheese or sometimes Muenster. And they are the perfect breads for grilled peanut butter and jelly, which in my opinion overpowers white breads.
On the white bread side, the Struan is a long time favorite and we recently discovered the joys of the Honey White bread. Struan is made with bread flour, cornmeal, rolled oats, wheat bran, brown rice and salt. It looks and tastes like a white bread, and we had found all kids loved eating grilled cheeses on Struan.
While tasty, all of these breads paled (at least when it came to grilled cheese) after we tried a loaf of sesame semolina bread from the Sunseri Brothers bakery in 2008 or 2009. We instantly decided that this was the ideal bread for grilled cheese. This bread griddles up beautifully into a crunchy crust and tender, slightly chewy middle. The crisp, light texture serves as a perfect counterpoint to the creamy Colby cheese melted inside.
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| Tomato soup with grilled colby on Sunseri sesame semolina bread |
Unfortunately, Sunseri stopped making this bread. And no one else’s semolina bread yielded satisfactory results. Not even our own attempt to bake semolina bread.
Fortunately, we found that Giant Eagle makes some really nice breads. Multigrain Tuscany bread is one that is tasty both dipped in olive oil/balsamic and in grilled sandwiches of all sorts. We particularly like this bread with grilled pastrami, grilled onions and Muenster or provolone.
In the last few weeks, I discovered the joys of Loafers Honey White, with its fine crumb and slight sweetness. Whereas the semolina mainly shines after griddling, the Honey White is delightful in all its forms. It has a finer texture with more moisture —great for snacking straight from the loaf. It griddles up to a beautiful golden color, crisp on the outside and tender within. Cut into cubes and left out overnight? Delicately crisp croutons- no baking required.
And finally, our satisfaction is now complete. A few months ago, we discovered that Whole Foods makes an Italian-style semolina bread. We initially only saw the plain semolina, and it made a perfect grilled cheese, as good as we remembered. And last Friday, I found a sesame seed coated loaf of Italian style semolina sitting next to the plain semolina. Life is good.
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| Italian semolina bread with sesame at Whole Foods |
Cheeses
We love cheeses of all sorts. And over the years, have enjoyed lots of grilled cheeses sandwiches. Indeed, grilled cheese was one of the first things I learned to cook years ago in junior high cooking class. Then, we used Wonder Bread and American cheese, griddled in a frying pan with a bit of butter - and it was wonderful.
Of course, Cheddar cheese is a favorite, particularly its sharp and extra-sharp renditions. However, cheddar by itself tends to melt poorly with separation of the oil.
Colby, or Longhorn, cheese to the rescue! Colby offers a similar taste and appearance to Cheddar, both often made using Annato, which stains the cheese a pleasant shade of orange. But Colby has a wonderful smooth, melting texture.
In our opinion, Colby cheese is the ideal cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches. Unfortunately, it has become difficult to locate pure Colby cheese. Too often, stores tend to carry Colby-Jack -- a mottled cheese in which both the distinctive tastes of Colby cheese and Jack cheese have been muddled together into a bland blend.
Fortunately, even if the prepackaged sliced cheeses do not include Colby, you can often get a semi-circular plank of Colby that you can slice up yourself. Even better, if you have a deli, you can often get them to cut thin, round slices perfect for fitting onto bread for grilled cheese.
Thin slices of proscuitto, apples, tomatoes, avocado or cooked bacon can be added for a delicious variation, but a simple sandwich filled only with stretchy, melted Colby is the ideal vehicle to deliver tomato soup.
Technique
A heavier pan, such as cast iron, carbon steel or a griddle is ideal for making grilled cheese sandwiches. While a stainless steel skillet also works when making one or two sandwiches, you have to be more careful to moderate the heat and time so that the bread does not burn.
My husband assembles the grilled cheese sandwiches with a double layer of thin sliced cheese between two slices of bread.
He then cuts thin slices of butter to place on top of the stack.
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| Colby and proscuitto sandwiched in sesame semolina bread with butter on top |
The griddle or skillet is heated to melt additional butter. Then he places the sandwich in the butter, moving them around in small circles to get an even coat, while keeping the slices of butter balanced on top.
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| The first sandwich has been flipped, while the second still has slices of butter on top |
The entire setup is then covered with a lid. We have found that a large, domed wok lid works great at covering 2-4 sandwiches at a time on the griddle. This allows the cheese to fully melt in the same time it takes for the bread to attain a golden brown color.
After 2-3 minutes (check bottom at 2 minutes), the sandwiches are flipped and cooked on the second side for another 2 minutes or until the desired color is reached. The second side usually browns more quickly than the first.
Grilled cheese on Whole Foods semolina bread
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| Grilled cheese on Whole Foods semolina bread |
Love2Chow Classic Homemade Tomato Soup
Makes about 8 cups. Click here for print-formatted recipe.
This delicious and easy tomato soup is so smooth and velvety that it does not need cream, although it is easy to add a spoonful of creme fraiche, plain yogurt, sour cream or goat cheese when serving. We enjoy this with grilled Longhorn Colby cheese sandwiches, ideally on semolina bread.
Ingredients
1 Tbs (14 g) unsalted butter
2 Tbs (28 g) extra virgin olive oil
1 large white or yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbs flour
3 cups reduced salt chicken stock or vegetable broth or water
1 28-oz can of whole crushed tomatoes or whole plum tomatoes pureed with juice (See Note)
1/2 Tbs sugar (optional, See Note)
1/8 tsp dried thyme or 1 sprig fresh
Salt, 1/8-1/4 tsp or to taste
Ground white pepper, 1/8-1/4 tsp or to taste
Optional toppings
fresh basil, chives, dill, fennel fronds
plain yogurt, sour cream, cheese
croutons or grilled cheese sandwiches for dipping
1. Heat butter and oil in a large pot over medium-low heat until the frothing from the butter has started to subside. Stir in onion and garlic. Cook for 5-8 min until soft, stirring and reducing heat if needed to prevent browning.
2. Add flour and stir to coat onions, cooking for 1-2 min. Add stock or water. Add remaining ingredients, starting with 1/8 tsp of salt and pepper. Heat over medium-high heat, stirring continuously to prevent flour from burning, until soup reaches a simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 40 min.
3. Remove from heat. Discard fresh thyme, if using. Using a stick (immersion) blender, puree the soup, starting at low speed and increasing speed until mixture is thick and smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Serve warm, garnishing with optional toppings, ideally with grilled cheese sandwiches.
Modified from Classic Tomato Soup, Taunton's Fine Cooking, March 2008 issue.
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| Nothing better than stretchy Colby and butter-griddled bread dipped in a rich, red tomato soup |
🐾 Note: The flavor and quality of the canned tomatoes is integral to this soup, and determines if you need to add the sugar.
My favorite is Cento brand All Purpose Crushed Tomatoes, which has only one ingredient: vine ripened crushed tomatoes. Be sure to read the label as there are many similar-looking Cento cans that have other ingredients added. If you use these tomatoes, you may not need to add any sugar.
🐾 Ask for Longhorn Colby if your deli is confused and keeps trying to pull out the bland Colby-Jack mixture. They might know it as Longhorn cheese.
🍃 Green Tips: rinse the can of tomatoes with the broth/water into the pot to get every last drop of tomato!
DID YOU TRY THIS RECIPE?
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