2Red bell peppers, cored and seeded, roughly chopped
6Roma tomatoes, halved
2Whole Carrots, roughly chopped
1TspKosher Salt
1, 8OzCan Tomato Sauce
Fresh cracked black pepper
2TspDried Basil
1TspOnion Powder
1TspGarlic Powder
1/2TspRed pepper flakes
1CupWhole Milk
3TbspButter, softened
6SlicesSourdough Bread
6SlicesWhite Cheddar or Muenster Cheese, or cheese of choice
Green Onions, for Garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F, lay the chopped red peppers, tomatoes, and carrots in a single layer on a sheet pan. Roast for 10-15 minutes, until tender and slightly blistered. Once done, remove and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and saute for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add in the minced garlic and saute for another minutes, or until fragrant. Add in the flour, stir for 2-3 minutes until the flour has absorbed.
Reduce heat to medium, slowly add in the vegetable broth and stir to remove any lumps from the flour mixture. Add in the roasted tomatoes, red peppers, carrots, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, and dried basil. Stir well to combine all ingredients.
Using an immersion blender, carefully blend the mixture in the pot until smooth. Alternatively, you can use a blender, and carefully blend the mixture in batches and return back to the pot.
Once blended, heat soup again over medium-high heat, add in whole milk, stir to combine and allow to come to a simmer. While the soup is finishing, heat a large griddle pan over medium-high heat, butter one side of each slice of sourdough, lay buttered side down on the hot pan. place too sliced of cheese on each piece of bread and top with the remaining buttered pieces of bread, buttered side up. This will make 3 sandwiches, feel free to adjust.
Cook grilled cheese until the bread is toasted on both sides and the cheese is melted. Remove from heat and let set for a couple minutes. Reduce the heat on the soup to low, serve into bowls. Cut grilled cheese sandwiches into small cubes or "croutons", top soup with grilled cheese croutons and green onion, serve and enjoy!