Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Fresh Mozzarella/Pesto Grilled Cheese

While I like to make most things on my own, I have no problem throwing up the surrender flag when I taste something that I don’t think I could make better.  We used to have a grocery store (oh..don’t worry it’s still there, but we’re not)  anyway this grocery store made some of the BEST tomato basil soup I’ve ever had.  I have done pretty well recreating it. BUT I’m not a fan of peeling a ton of tomatoes, nor do I heart blending things, especially hot things.  Yep, you’ve caught me.  Two things I try to stay away from: 1) deep frying anything, it’s just a mess and a waste of oil and 2) dragging out bulky appliances like the blender.    So what am I to do?  Come up with a shortcut that’s equal to, if not better than the one I bought oh so long ago in the deli section of that far away store. 2 out of 2 Wilson children agree with me and Sidda even did a happy dance!!!

And by the way, if it drives you crazy to read passages with random  ……..’s (whatever those things are called), ßparentheses, commas and other punctuation thrown in just turn away now.  Because my writing will make you climb the wall. Not sure why it’s taken me so long to throw that disclaimer in there, but better late than never.

Ingredients

Creamy Tomato Basil soup

3 Tbsp. EVOO

4 cloves of garlic chopped

Pinch red pepper flakes

1 jar your favorite spaghetti sauce~ I recommend Bertolli  Garlic and Olive Oil

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 Tbsp. basil ripped

3/4-1 cup heavy cream

Fresh mozzarella/pesto grilled cheese

Sliced sourdough bread ~Stands up better to pressing, or in my case, squashing with a heavy pan J

Fresh mozzarella sliced

Jar of pesto

EVOO

Cooking instructions:

For the soup:  In heavy bottom large saucepan heat 3tbs EVOO over medium low heat.  Add chopped garlic and crushed red pepper.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, just long enough to infuse the oil with the flavor.  Add your spaghetti sauce and stir.  Stir in chicken broth. You can add more or less depending on how thin/thick you want your soup. Cover and cook over low heat while you make the sandwiches.

Brush one side of each slice of sourdough bread with EVOO. On the other side (the side without the evoo) spread a thin layer of pesto and layer on slices of fresh mozzarella.  Cover with other piece of bread, EVOO side up.  This will keep the sandwich from sticking as well as give it a crunchy golden crust. I like to make mine on a grill pan and since I don’t own a Panini press, I’ll put another heavy bottomed pan on top to press that sandwich down.  Cook sandwiches on medium for about 4 min on each side.  Keep an eye to make sure the sandwich isn’t cooking quicker than the cheese is melting. 

While your sandwiches grill, tear the basil and add it as well as stir in cream.  Remove soup from heat and cover until sandwiches are done.  Ladle soup into dippable bowl, Cut and plate sandwiches and start dunking!!

<------- My panini press ;)

<-------Dunking

PUNKIN' CORN CHOWDER

Punkin’ corn chowder

Anyone that knows me knows how much I love pet names…punkin is at the top of the list, along with puddin’, cookie, snickerdoodle..really anything that will put a smile on your face. I don’t think it’s a coincidence all my pet names are a type of food.   Love the words, love the food, love the scent of the candles, love this time of year. 

I had a version of pumpkin soup the other day and I thought, I can do that….and better!!  Really, that’s exactly what I said! So played around a bit, tossed it around in my head and came up with this.  Oh and can I tell you that I really wanted to garnish this with pepitas..LOVE THEM.  Searched my market high and low for them.  My produce guy rescued me and pointed me in the right direction…then, I completely forgot them!! Oh man….  But I digress..lets move on…

·         Punkin corn chowder drizzled with cream infused with sage and ginger.  Topped with crispy prosciutto.

Ingredients:

1 large shallot

2+1 Tbs butter

3 Tbs Flour

1 ½ Cups milk

2/3 cup Chicken Broth

½ 14.5 oz can pumpkin

2 cups frozen corn

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

Salt and pepper

Heavy Cream

Handful fresh sage

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

2 pieces prosciutto

Cooking instructions:

In a small, heavy bottom sauce pan, add heavy cream, sage, ginger and salt.  Heat but do not boil.  When warm, turn off heat and let cream steep.  Allow the cream to cool and strain into a measuring cup.

Meanwhile, in large pot, melt 2tbs butter over medium heat. Add shallots and sweat for 3 minutes.  Add flour and allow to cook until not raw.  Slowly add milk and whisk to avoid lumps.  Add salt and pepper at this point.  Whisk until mixture thickens, add cinnamon and nutmeg.  Turn heat to medium low and add pumpkin.  Stir till combined.  Begin adding chicken broth to thin mixture to your liking. Turn heat to low and add in frozen corn.  Add additional salt and pepper at this point to taste. Finish chowder with last Tbs. of butter.

While corn is cooking, place two slices prosciutto or bacon in small skillet.  Fry over medium high heat until crispy.

Ladle soup into serving dish, slowly swirl in sage/ginger infused cream. Crumble prosciutto on top. (and pepitas if you don’t forget J )

I also served this with croustinis for dipping.  Filling and delicious.

Chicken Tortilla Soup (Fiesta in your mouth!!!)

What to do for dinner tonight?  I had a few ingredients in the fridge that were jumping out at me, but nothing was happening in my cooking brain.  I had a good workout tonight and didn’t want to ruin all the hard work.  So I decided to make something that I love and haven’t yet tackled.  Chicken Tortilla soup.  I’ve had this a couple times before at my favorite cantina’s.  So I looked up a recipe and slightly altered it to what I had on hand.  I got this recipe inspiration from Tyler Florence, I mean, he does make the ultimate recipes right?  By the way, either we’re pigs or this recipe only makes about 3 servings.  It would be really easy to add more of all of the ingredients to make a bigger batch.

This is so easy to make. It’s basically open, dump and stir:

Ingredients:

2 Tbs oil

½ white onion

2 cloves garlic

1 14.5 oz can tomatoes with green chili’s (warning I have had a can for a while now and think it got hotter as it sat in the pantry, if you want to control the heat, use regular tomatoes and add green chili’s!!)

2 Tbs Sofrito

1 32 oz box chicken broth

Shredded cooked chicken breast ( another place to use that rotisserie!)

1 avocado diced

6 corn tortillas + oil for frying

Kosher salt

Cilantro

Lime

Scallions

Preparation:

Heat onion, garlic, sofrito and tomatoes in oil over medium high heat for about 7-8 min until almost pulpy.  Add chicken broth, turn heat down to medium and let all ingredients simmer.

While soup simmers heat frying oil and cut tortillas into strips.  When oil is 350 degrees **** Add tortillas in small batches and fry until golden brown.  Remove from oil to a plate with a paper towel and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Once the soup has come to a simmer and is warmed through it’s pretty much read to dish up. Ladle the soup into a serving bowl.   Add about ¼ cup of the shredded chicken, a quarter of an avocado,  scallions, cilantro, tortillas strips.  Squeeze some lime on the top and you are ready to rock.  You can go a bit further and add rice or beans to the soup, jalapeños, cheese or sour cream.  This soup has so many bold flavors it’s really a fiesta in your mouth!!!!

**** Tip**** If you don’t have a thermometer, you can use the handle of a wooden spoon to test the readiness of the oil.  If, when inserted into the oil, you see bubbles coming from the wooden handle, it’s ready to go.