Toasted Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Apple Butter & Tomato Soup
Celebrate #GrilledCheeseSandwichDay with Chef John’s version of Grilled Cheese featuring our Organic Apple Butter and Bellwether Farms Carmody cheese. This decadent version of Grilled Cheese happens to pair perfectly with our Napa Valley Chardonnay and it is Meg Barkley’s go-to pairing.
Grilled Cheese Ingredients:
4 slices of hearty white bread cut into half inch slices
½ cup Bellwether Farms Carmody Cheese
¼ cup Clif Family Napa Valley Apple Butter
2 tbsp butter, softened
Tomato Soup Ingredients:
1-28 ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained and liquid reserved
2 tbsp Clif Family Napa Valley Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large shallot, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp flour
½ cup chicken stock
¼ heavy cream
Kosher salt to taste
Method:
For the soup:
In a six-quart stock pot, on medium-low heat, sauté shallot in Clif Family Napa Valley Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil until tender, about two minutes. Add the tomato paste and Stir in flour and cook until the raw flour taste has been cooked out, about 30 seconds. Wisk in the chicken stock and cook until thickened. Stir in the diced tomatoes, strained of their liquid and puree the mixture with a hand blender. Return to the heat and bring to a boil. Add in the heavy cream. Adjust the consistency of the soup to your liking with the reserved tomato liquid. Season with kosher salt to taste.
For the sandwiches:
On a parchment lined sheet pan lie down 4 slices of bread and butter each side with softened butter. Turn the bread over and spread Clif Family Napa Valley Apple Butter on each side of the bread. Top the apple butter with grated Bellwether Farms Carmody cheese and sandwich the bread together. Heat a pan on medium heat and griddle each side of the bread until golden and cheese has melted.
Serves Four
