Tomato Bisque and Toasted Cheese Sandwiches
When food can be considered simple enough to be comfort food and be sophisticated enough to be served at smart cocktail parties, it isn’t hard to understand why we would want to share it with you. Tomato Bisque and Toasted Cheese Squares are really dressed up names for tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
When I was in college I spent a summer in England, mostly in the north in a little town called Burrough-in-Furness. There was a little sandwich shop that made the best cheese sandwiches I had ever tasted. They were a cousin of the grilled cheese sandwich I was used to from home, but MUCH better because they were not grilled in a pan but instead they were toasted.
Sometimes when I cook a grilled cheese in a frying pan on top of the stove, or on a griddle, I find that often the bread becomes too brown before the cheese melts thoroughly. If I try and cook it on a really low flame so the cheese has a chance to melt, the bread gets soggy. Toasting the sandwiches in the oven allows the bread to get really buttery and crisp and the cheese melts evenly and oozes out the sides. When I came home I started making these sandwiches straight away, to everyone’s delight…buttery bread and a good melted cheddar…how yummy!
When we are serving this as a family supper, the soup can be served in a regular soup bowl with the sandwiches on the side to be dipped in the soup. When we serve them as an appetizer we cut the sandwiches in squares and pile them on a platter, and serve the soup from a tureen in small punch cups or little espresso cups so it can be enjoyed straight from the cup, with no spoon necessary.
Whether you eat them for a simple Sunday evening supper or serve them this Sunday at your Oscar party or at your next cocktail party buffet, you can’t go wrong and you will definitely feel warmed inside and out…..we always do.
Tomato Bisque
1 29 oz can of tomato puree
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons butter
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
Melt butter in a saucepan and add garlic. Saute until lightly browned. Add chicken broth, cream and tomato puree and stir well. Add crushed oregano*, thyme, salt and pepper and continue cooking on a medium flame for about 5 minutes or just until soup begins to bubble around the edges. Do not allow soup to boil. Reduce heat to low and keep warm until ready to serve.
*(To crush oregano, rub dried oregano leaves between the palms of your hands and then drop into soup. Rubbing the oregano between your palms releases the oils in the oregano and increases the flavor.)
Toasted Cheese Sandwiches
White sandwich bread
Good quality extra sharp cheddar cheese (or your favorite cheese)
Butter
For each sandwich use two pieces of bread. Spread butter liberally over the outsides of both pieces of bread. Place one slice of bread, buttered side down, on a baking sheet. Slice the cheese and place on the bread and top with the second slice of buttered bread.
Bake in a 425 degree oven until the bread begins to brown. Flip sandwich and continue cooking until second side is toasty brown. Cheese will ooze slightly from the sides of the sandwich. Allow to sit for a minute before slicing and eating…if you can wait…yum!
oh! how did you know i’ve been OBSESSING over tomato bisque!!! all my life i’ve never liked “tomato soup.” it seemed like hot watery ketchup to me. bleh. but recently i’ve tried some cream of tomato soups and tomato bisques, and i’m a convert! can’t wait to try your recipe!
AND, yep yep, everything you said about the grilled cheese “a la stovetop.” either bread is charred and cheese unmelted…or the cheese is warm and lovely but the bread is overly buttery (wait, is there such a thing as “overly buttery??”) and soggy. Can’t wait to try oven grilled cheese! Brilliant!
So glad y’all are here sharing <3
Bettye xoxo
I promise you will like these Bettye…and next time we see each other we can make them and enjoy them together 🙂
And, Bettye, you are going to LOVE this tomato soup recipe! It is absolutely delicious!
Another one of my favorites!! Albert is excited about the cheese toast. He ALWAYS raves about the cheese toast done in the oven!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thank YOU for supporting!
This sounds great, love tomato bisque. Looking for a sweet potato bisque recipe, had it once, it too is wonderful. Will try the toasted cheese sandwich at my Oscar party. Thanks
Enjoy your Oscar party! Let us know how your guests like the toasted cheese.
Tomato soup and toasted cheese sandwiches are a family favorite. I look forward to making the tomato bisque, and I will definitely try the oven toasting. Great idea when making a large quantity, too. Thanks, ladies. Love your sharings.
Sally
Oh, gosh, we hit the jackpot if they are a family favorite! Enjoy!
I’ve been vying for your recipes and entertaining tips all this time and love love love your website!!!
Oh, Angela, so good to hear from you! Glad you are enjoying the site.
How did you know that I love tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches? lol
Try using Trader Joe’s Cracked Wheat Sourdough – it makes fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches!
And as for stove top cooking, I put a deep frying pan upside down over the griddle – it helps melt the cheese quicker. Try it. My sandwiches turn out perfect every time.
And thanks for the recipe for Tomato Bisque soup. I’ll try it.
Gail thanks for the suggestions…especially the TJ Cracked Wheat Sourdough bread….sounds yummy!
Yum, is right. What a delightful pair for a wintery evening. (We are still in Winter, right?)
As always, your recipes and serving hints are spot on. Thank you so much for this site.
Oh, and the oven baking is spectacular. (And, yes, I did notice “lots of butter”!) Can’t wait to try it.
Hugs.
Karen I’m sure you agree…..how could anything fail to be yummy if there is butter involved?
Let us know how you like it – the oven baking of the grilled cheese, that is!
I’m a comfort food freak, so this looks like my kind of meal. I can’t wait to try the sandwiches toasted in the oven! MMMMM