Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

I love fall. And with fall comes soup. On the first cool day a few weeks ago, I disappeared into my kitchen and expiremented. Grilled cheese croutons? Um, yes please. Full, rich, filling soup with funky pasta? Of COURSE! I'll even tell you a nice chardonnay went perfect with this one. :)

Ingredients: 

Olive oil 

28oz can crushed tomatoes (I usually go for tuttorosso, less seeds)

small yellow onion, chopped

3 or 4 cloves minced garlic

About 1 cup of orzo (cook it for 7 minutes, the soup will finish it)

Chicken stock– I usually go for the Swanson containers, it’s about 4 cups

½ cup cream – you really don’t need much

Basil

Oregano

Any other spices you want to add in - saffron would be REALLY good in this soup, but it's not really a pantry staple

(I don’t add salt and pepper to anything, but you could if you wanted to)

Heat the olive oil, cook the onions. You want them to be soft and translucent before you add anything else. 

Add the garlic and let it get stinky. Man I love the smell of garlic and onions. 

Add the chicken stock, spices and tomatoes and let that simmer for about 15 minutes. 

Cook your orzo for about 7 minutes while that simmers and then add that. The orzo will finish cooking in the soup, so you don't have to follow the directions on the box. Add your cream and simmer another 10 minutes or so. 

Grilled Cheese Croutons - so simple I can't stand it.

Ingredients:
White country bread
Cheese of your choice (I used sharp cheddar, and jalapeno cheddar jack)

Make a grilled cheese. Really. Just make one!

Heres the important part. Let your grilled cheese STAND for 1-2 minutes. That way when you go to cut your grilled cheese it won't just ooze out and you'll be out of cheese. 

Chop it up into bite sized pieces and toss onto your soup.

Warm. Filling. Delicious. Even the hubs liked it. :)