Tomato soup and cheese toastie (Brian Lagerstrom)

[David Hess]

Sorry, I could not get past the American Cheese-like substance - and that's the kindest thing I can say about that.

We it actually American Cheese?  There is also "pasteurized process cheese product" typically sold right next to it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Processed_cheese#United_States_2

[Halcyon]

I made this recipe again over the weekend but this time instead of using just a good quality (Australian) extra virgin olive oil, I substituted 25% of the oil with olive oil infused with truffles. The truffles definitely gave it a different flavour and the smell was phenomenal. If you do decide to use an infused oil, I'd suggest go easy rather than a 1:1 swap as they do tend to over-power. You can always add more later during serving.

[PlainName]

olive oil infused with truffles

Pushing the boat out, there!

Just in case anyone was wondering, this soup is fabulous cold from the fridge too.

[SilverSolder]

Had to try it after all the glowing reviews here...

I made it in a large stainless steel saucepan (didn't have anything else big enough), pretty much according to the recipe but with "pedestrian" rather than de-luxe canned tomatoes.  It was in the oven for a lot longer than the recipe called for (at least 2x) in order to get some caramelisation happening in this shape of pan (it would be easier with a flatter vessel!).

I blended the soup and decided not to strain it - I liked the structure / mushiness that came out of the (hand) blender, didn't see the need for straining it.

For the toasties, I used Provolone, Gruyere, and American cheese (just out of curiosity - it tasted great overall, but it didn't outperform a good Cheddar and its low melting point is not really necessary).   I used the Toastie bags to make them, and got amazing results out of our fairly large toaster.  Toastie bags are an underrated method, if you haven't tried them, I highly recommend them - soooo easy, and sooo good results!

All in all, a huge success with everyone who sampled the wares.   Winner, winner, chicken(?) dinner!

[PlainName]

Might have to look into (ha ha) these toastie bag things. Can you get single-use ones? One of my bugbears is a bunch of vacpac bags on the draining board after being washed, and them still being in the way there days later because they take forever to dry. I just sling 'em in the bin when no-one's looking...

[SilverSolder]

Might have to look into (ha ha) these toastie bag things. Can you get single-use ones? One of my bugbears is a bunch of vacpac bags on the draining board after being washed, and them still being in the way there days later because they take forever to dry. I just sling 'em in the bin when no-one's looking...

They could be thrown out after use, I suppose, but I find they last quite a few round trips to the toaster.   Just shake the crumbs out, no real need to wash them or anything...  they are non-stick.   I store the used ones in a Ziploc along with the new ones.

I think the way they wrap the bread retains moisture while toasting, so you can get it nicely brown on the outside without drying out what is in the middle...  the results are comparable to a panini press or something like that, minus the size and cleanup of one of those!