Grown Up Roasted Tomato and Bell Pepper Soup with a Fancy Grilled Cheese

Grown Up Roasted Tomato and Bell Pepper Soup with a Fancy Grilled Cheese

• 12 cocktail tomatoes

• 3-4 heirloom tomatoes or brown tomatoes

• 2 yellow bell peppers

• 1 brown onion - chopped

• 3 cloves garlic - chopped

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 teaspoon red chili flakes

• 1 teaspoon turmeric

• 1 teaspoon paprika

• 1 teaspoon oregano

• 3 threads saffron

• 1 teaspoon cumin

• 3 shakes red wine vinegar

• 6 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock if keeping it vegan

• salt (to taste)

• pepper (to taste)

• 4 tablespoons olive oil (divided)

Grilled Cheese!

• 4 slices olive bread

• 1 cup grated fontina cheese

• 1 handful fresh sage

1. Season tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Make sure they are nice and coated. Roast the tomatoes in baking sheet at 400º for 25 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, roast the bell peppers whole directly on an open flame for about 10 minutes, until all sides are charred. After they are charred, wrap in wet paper towels, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. This will steam them a little and make it easy to take the skins off. After about 5 minutes, the skins should slide right off!

3. Add the onion and garlic and 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a large stock pot and season with salt and pepper. After the onion cooks for about 7 minutes, add in the peeled and roasted bell peppers.

4. Take the tomatoes out of the oven and let them cool fro about 5 minutes. Try to peel off as much skin as possible but don't worry about taking all of it off. After peeling, pour the tomatoes and their juices directly into the stock pot with the onions, garlic and bell peppers.

5. Bring the heat up and add in 3 tablespoons of dry white wine or rose will work too.

6. Next add in all the spices and season again with salt and pepper.

7. Add the 6 cups of chicken stock or vegetable stock. Let it simmer on low with the lid off for at least 20 minutes.

8. After about 20 minutes, add in a few shakes of red wine vinegar. Now time to blend together! Using a hand blender directly in the stockpot, blend together until nice and smooth, about 3 minutes. Then at the very end, add in 1 cup of milk with the hand blender going at the same time to make sure the milk doesn't curdle! It should be perfect at this point!

Grilled Cheese!

1. This is simple! Take your olive bread and drizzle with a little olive oil. Pop it in the oven at 350º for 5 minutes to get a little warm and crispy. Take it out and top with fontina cheese and fresh sage. Pop it back in for 3 minutes or until cheese is melty and gooey! I like to dunk my grilled cheese right into the soup! So yummy!

with love + salt