Roasted Tomato Soup with Toasty Cheese Sandwich Dippers

One of the few things I know for sure Z really really likes is grilled cheese. One of the few things I know for sure about life is there are few things that compliment grilled cheese better than tomato soup. And this is not your Campbell's condensed variety... it's big time yumminess.

Approx 12 Roma tomatoes washed and halved lengthwise
1-2 red bell peppers washed, halved, seeds and center removed
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 small onion, rough-chopped
olive oil
Salt/pepper (I like using sea salt and fresh ground pepper...)
Italian seasoning (i like to use fresh basil, oregano, and thyme. If you don't have fresh, dried works as well)
bay leaves
1-2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
1/3 cup red wine
1/3 - 1/2 cup heavy cream

Place tomato's and peppers cut side down on a baking sheet with peeled whole garlic cloves. Drizzle it all with Olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Pop it in an oven heated to 450 and roast until you start to see black charring on the tomatoes and peppers. 25-30 mins(?)
In the mean time cover the bottom of a large pot with olive oil and put in the rough-chopped onion, a tblsp of italian seasoning and a bay leaf. Cook the onions until they are soft and have a little bit of carmel color. Add all your roasted tomatoes, peppers, and garlic,chicken stock, and wine, give it a stir to combine, cover and let simmer for as long as you have... 15-20 mins minimum.
remove the bay leaf and discard. Use an immersion blender (or you can use a regular blender... just a little more transfer work) to blend it to a smooth liquid consistency. If you like your soup thinner, you can add more stock at this point.
return the lid and let it simmer until you are ready to serve. Right before serving add heavy cream and stir in til combined... OR you can serve soup as is, with heavy cream drizzled across the top. I also like to garnish with some fresh shredded basil.


8 slices sourdough bread sliced thin (I usually buy my bread at the bakery and have them slice it for me... so much easier that way!)
4 each slices of 2 or 3 kinds of cheese, I almost always use provolone, Z likes pepper-jack, also try muenster, a sharp cheddar, swiss, parmesan (you may have to flake this off yourself, but it's worth it... yummy and nutty!), or sometimes I get a garlic or herb cheese to add in there.
butter

Heat up a griddle to a medium heat. Generously butter both side of the bread (all the way out to the edges please!) when griddle is fully heated place 2 pieces of bread down and let it grill for a minute or so until it is nice and crunchy and just a little golden. flip the bread over and put 2-3 slices of cheese on one piece, and top with the other piece (grilled side down on the cheese) grill for 1-2 minutes, or until desired color, then flip the whole sandwich and toast the other side... serve immediately with a bowl of tomato soup to dip. (repeat to make a total of 4 sandwiches)

ENJOY! :)