Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese

45 min · Easy · Serves 1

680 kcal per serving · 21g protein

The two halves of the best cheap lunch there is, cooked as one thing. The soup simmers in the pot while the sandwich grills in the pan, so both land hot at the same moment. Tinned tomatoes, butter, onion and a spoonful of cream make the soup — no oven, no roasting tray. The sandwich is only bread, butter and cheddar, taken slowly over medium-low heat until the crust is deep gold and the middle is molten. Cut it on the diagonal and dunk.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Butter, for the soup
• Small onion × 1
• 1 clove Garlic
• 1 tbsp Tomato paste
• 200 g Chopped tinned tomatoes
• 150 ml Vegetable stock
• 1 pinch Sugar
• 30 ml Cooking cream
• 1 pinch Salt
• 1 pinch Black pepper
• 2 leaf Fresh basil, to serve
• 2 slices Bread
• 45 g Cheddar, grated
• 2 tsp Butter, softened, for the bread

Method

1. Soften the Onion

   Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium heat, add the finely chopped onion and cook for 6 minutes, stirring now and then, until it is soft and see-through but not browned.

2. Cook the Garlic and Paste

   Stir in the chopped garlic and the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute, until the paste darkens to brick-red and smells sweet rather than sharp.

3. Simmer the Soup

   Tip in the tinned tomatoes, stock, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat, then turn it down to a gentle simmer — small, lazy bubbles — and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, until it smells rich and has visibly thickened.

4. Butter the Bread

   While the soup simmers, spread the softened butter all the way to the edges on one side of each slice of bread. These buttered sides are the ones that will face the hot pan.

5. Fill the Sandwich

   Turn one slice buttered-side down, spread the grated cheddar evenly over it right to the corners, and top with the second slice, buttered-side up.

6. Grill the First Side

   Put the sandwich into a dry pan over medium-low heat and cook for 4 minutes, pressing it flat now and then with a spatula, until the underside is deep golden brown.

7. Flip and Finish the Sandwich

   Flip the sandwich and cook the second side for 3 minutes, until it is golden too and melted cheese starts to show at the edges. Lift it onto a board.

8. Blend the Soup Smooth

   Take the pot off the heat and blend the soup smooth with a hand blender, keeping the blade fully under the surface so it does not splatter.

9. Stir in the Cream

   Put the pot back on low heat, stir in the cream and warm it through for 1 minute without letting it boil. Taste it and add salt a pinch at a time until the tomato flavour steps forward.

10. Serve

    Ladle the soup into a bowl, tear the basil over the top, and cut the sandwich in half on the diagonal. Lean the halves on the rim of the bowl and dunk them while the cheese is still stretchy.