creamy tomato bisque and paninis

On our fifth date I made my wife a somewhat elaborate dinner and afterwards she informed me that she would never be able to cook for me.

When I said that I was going to make dinner she wasn’t sure what to expect. She really enjoyed dinner, but would later tell me that she would have been happy if I had simply made tomato soup and grilled cheese.

It took me until my wife became pregnant with our son to finally get around to making her that grilled cheese and tomato soup in the form of creamy tomato bisque and paninis. It is a wonderfully comforting soup that is not only easy to make, but freezes well.

As for the paninis, they too are no more difficult than assembling a sandwich. I like to use ciabatta bread for my paninis, but focaccia would be a fine option as well.. A trick I’ve discovered is after you cut the bread invert it so that the soft inside is what ends up getting grilled, rather than the crustier exterior.

Then I layer up slices of tomato that I have first marinated in some balsamic vinegar, generous slices of fresh mozzarella, a pinch of some chiffonaded basil and proscuitto (for my wife) or sopressata (for me). Lastly, I lightly brush the outside of the sandwiches with some olive oil and grill them in a cast iron pan until they are golden brown and the cheese is melted.

As you can see it is very simple, but a nice way to jazz up a simple meal of soup and sandwiches.

Creamy Tomato Bisque

as adapted from Food Network Kitchens

hardware

Dutch oven or large pot
Measuring cups and spoons
Immersion blender or Blender and strainer

software

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 to 3 slices of bacon
1 medium yellow or sweet onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth (low sodium if canned)
1 cup sherry or white wine
1 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes with liquid, roughly chopped
3 flat lead parsley sprigs
3 fresh thyme sprigs
3/4 cup heavy cream
6 oz mascarpone cheese (3/4 package)
salt and pepper to taste

assemblage

Melt the butter in the oil over medium high heat in the dutch oven or pot
Add the bacon and render down until crispy, then remove bacon
Stir in the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and shallot, season with salt and pepper, then cook for 7 to 8 minutes, or until fragrant
Add the flour, stirring to combine and cook for 2 to 3 minutes
Deglaze the pan with the sherry or white wine, cook for 1 to 2 minutes
Add the chicken broth and tomatoes, then bring to boil while stirring regularly
Drop in the parsley and thyme (tied together with twine if you have to make it easier to retrieve), lower the heat to simmer for 30 minutes, then remove from heat and allow the base to cool
Discard the herb bundle, then hit the soup with the immersion blender, or transfer in batches to a regular blender and strain before returning it to the pot.
Turn the heat back on to medium
Whisk together the mascarpone and heavy cream, then stir into the the soup, reserving 1/4 of it for garnish
Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary

presentation

When my bisque is finished I like to serve it in a shallow bowl then swirl some of the remaining mascarpone/heavy cream mixture and top it off with some of the bacon crumbles. Combined with the paninis this bisque is the perfect cold weather comfort food.

Dipping the perfectly grilled paninis into the soup brings me back to my childhood when my mom would make tomato soup and grilled cheese after we had been playing out in the snow.

If you give this a try I’d love to hear about how it went, or what you might have done differently.