Serves: 2
Prep time: 15 min
Cooking time: 50 min
Ingredients:
- 600g cherry tomatoes
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 500ml vegetable stock
For the pesto:
- large handful of fresh basil
- 1 clove garlic
- 50g pine nuts, toasted
- 50g Parmesan cheese
- olive oil
For the grilled cheese:
- 4 large slices bread
- 2 tbsp butter
- 100g melting cheese (Cheddar/Monterey Jack/mozzarella)
Method:
- Begin by making the soup. Slice the tomatoes in half and place on a baking tray. Deseed and chop the peppers and place on the tray with the tomatoes. Crush the garlic and mix through the peppers and tomatoes along with 2 tbsp olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.
- Place the tray into a preheated oven at 200°C and roast until the tomatoes and peppers are golden and blistered – around 40–50 min.
- In a deep saucepan, add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil. Finely chop the onion and cook in the olive oil until softened. Add in the cooked tomato mix and stir well. Use a stick blender to blend all the ingredients into a thick purée. Add the vegetable stock little by little as you blend until you reach your desired consistency.
- To make the pesto, place the basil, garlic, pine nuts and cheese into a food mixer and blitz until a rough paste forms. Slowly drizzle in olive oil as you blitz until you achieve a thick, green, spreadable pesto.
- Butter a side of each slice of bread and place them butter side down on a plate. Spread the top sides with pesto. Now add grated cheese on two of the slices (be generous) and top with the other two slices so that the pesto is facing inwards and the butter side is up. Place the sandwiches in a dry frying pan on medium to low heat and toast gently until the cheese begins to melt and the bread turns golden brown. Flip over to toast the other side and then remove from the heat. Cut in half.
- Serve the soup alongside the gooey grilled cheese and dip away.
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