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Tomato Garlic Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Perfect when it's drizzly outside and you're short on time.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Soup, tomato, cheese, sandwich
Servings: 4 people
Cost: $10 - $15

Equipment

  • Medium sized soup pot or dutch oven - 8 - 12 quart size.
  • Large frying pan

Ingredients

For the Soup

  • 1-2 tbls vegetable or olive oil
  • 2 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbl paprika If you have it, try smoked paprika for a little extra kick.
  • 1 64 oz tomato juice Still looking for that extra kick? Substitute V8 juice.
  • ½ cup vegetable broth or water
  • ¼ cup dry sherry

For the Sandwiches

  • 8 slices sourdough bread Try to find the sourdough that resembles a regular loaf, rather than the fancy style.
  • 1 stick butter
  • 16 slices medium chedder cheese
  • 4 slices Muenster cheese

Instructions

  • Heat the oil in the pot over medium high heat. Sauté garlic for about a minute until fragrant.
  • Add the paprika and sauté for about 30 seconds.
  • Add the tomato juice, vegetable broth and sherry.
  • Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
  • While the soup simmers, butter one side of each of the slices of bread. Heat your frying pan on medium heat.
  • Put one (or two if your pan is big enough) pieces of bread, butter side down, into the pan. Immediately place two slices of the cheddar cheese, one slice of the muenster, and then an additional two slices of the cheddar cheese on the non-buttered side of the bread. Place the non-buttered side of another piece of the bread on top of the cheese.
  • Be patient. At this point you are slowly grilling the bread while the cheese melts so it will take a few minutes. If you turn the heat up too high it will just burn the bread and the cheese won’t have time to melt.
  • After a few minutes, lift up one of the sandwiches to see how the grilling is going. When it is the color you prefer (anywhere from golden to charcoal black), carefully and quickly flip the sandwich. If the bread slides a little, don’t worry....you should be able to nudge it back in place if you act quickly.
  • Repeat the process for the remaining sandwiches.
  • When finished grilling, let the sandwiches sit for just a few minutes before cutting them—otherwise the gooey-ness will be overwhelming.
  • Enjoy!