Homemade Tomato Soup & Mozzarella Basil Grilled Cheese

To continue with the rainy weekend (see previous blog post about the pumpkin spiced lattes), I made homemade tomato soup in the crock pot, along with mozzarella, basil, and pesto grilled cheese sandwiches.

I found it to be a pretty simple recipe, though it didn't yield quite as much soup as I had hoped for. I like to make extra to take to work for lunches, and unfortunately, with two of us eating it, there wasn't quite enough to save for leftovers. That isn't a deal breaker. You could always double the recipe with no problem, as it's very easy with step by step instructions.

Prep starts the night before you plan to make the soup, with coring and deseeding of roman or plum tomatoes, cut them in half, and cut up two cloves of garlic to combine with them. As it sits, the tomatoes really absorb that flavor. I'll post the full recipe at the end of the post.

The next morning, you combine the tomatoes and garlic with a can of vegetable broth and basil in your crock pot. I cooked it on low for 8 hours, but you can also cook it on high for 6.

Here is the starting product. 

I also found that the tomatoes softened and cooked quicker, and you don't necessarily have to go the full 8 hours if you're getting hungrier early in the day. The amazing aroma of the soup tormented me all day. The basil gave it a nice Italian feel, and I was ready to eat this by 3pm! 

This is right before the tomatoes were ready to be put in the blender to smooth. 

The tomatoes blended with the basil and garlic. It was chunkier than store bought tomato soup, but had a great texture. 

Next, I prepped the sandwiches to go along with the soup.

I spread jarred pesto on whole wheat bread, along with mozzarella slices, tomato, and basil leaves. The recipe said to do it on a panini press, but I just put them in a grill pan and it worked just as well.

When all is said and done, this is what your meal will look like. It was very flavorful, and the basil gave it just the right kick to add some great taste. Next time I might add more garlic, but the recipe is great as is. It also didn't make much, so next time I might double the recipe. It was very hearty and filling, not to mention healthy. 

Here is the full recipe:

3 lbs plum tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

1 can (14.5 oz) reduced sodium vegetable broth

¼ cup basil leaves, plus 15 large leaves for sandwiches

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

10 slices of whole grain bread

1 tbsp jarred basil pesto

8 oz fresh mozzarella

1 large tomato

-The night before cooking, core, halve and seed tomatoes. Thinly slice garlic and combine in a resalable bag with tomatoes. Refrigerate overnight.

-in the morning, combine tomatoes and garlic with broth and ¼ cup of the basil leaves in a slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours.

-Once soup is almost done, heat Panini press. Place 5 slices of the bread on work surface. Spread ½ tsp pesto on each slice. Cut mozzarella and tomatoes into 10 thin slices each. Place 2 slices of the mozzarella on bread. Add 3 basil leaves to each sandwich and top each with 2 slices tomato. Top with 5 remaining bread slices and coat both sides of sandwiches with nonstick cooking spray. Cook sandwiches in Panini press for 3 minutes until browned and cheese is melted.

-While sandwiches cook, ladle half of the tomato mixture into a blender. Blend until smooth. Add remaining tomato mixture to blender if there is space. Blend until smooth. Divide among 5 bowls. Serve with a sandwich.