Easy Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Croutons
(Serves 4 to 6)
3 tablespoons good olive oil
3 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
4 cups vegetable stock
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
Large pinch of saffron
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup orzo
1/2 cup heavy cream
Grilled Cheese Croutons (see recipe below)
In a large pot or Dutch oven such as Le Creuset, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Add garlic, and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the stock, tomatoes, saffron, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Bring soup to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, fill a medium pot with water, add 2 teaspoons salt, and bring to a boil. Add orzo and cook for 7 minutes. (It will finish cooking in the soup.) Drain the orzo and add it to the soup. Stir in the cream, return the soup to a simmer, and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring frequently.
Serve hot with Grilled Cheese Croutons scattered on top.
Grilled Cheese Croutons
(Serves 4 to 6)
4 (1/2-inch thick slices country white bread)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
Heat a panini grill. Place four slices of bread on a cutting board and brush lightly with melted butter, being sure to butter the corners. Turn the slices over and pile Gruyere on two of the slices. Place remaining two slices of bread on top of the Gruyere, buttered sides up.
Grill sandwiches on the panini grill for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Place on a cutting board, allow to rest for 1 minute and cut into 1-inch cubes.
Baked Fontina
You will definitely impress your friends with this!
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1 1/2 pounds fontina*, rind removed and 1-inch-diced
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1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
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6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
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1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
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1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
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1 teaspoon kosher salt
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1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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1 crusty French baguette
- Preheat the broiler and position the oven rack 5 inches from the heat. (If you can’t get it exactly 5 inches, its ok)
- Distribute the cubes of Fontina evenly in a 12-inch cast-iron pan. Drizzle on the olive oil. Combine the garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sprinkle it over the cheese and olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and place the pan under the broiler for 6 minutes (or longer if your pan is farther from the heat source), until the cheese is melted and bubbling and starts to brown.
- Serve the baked Fontina family-style-right out of the oven in the cast-iron pan with crusty chunks of bread for everyone to dip.
Mac & Cheese
Kosher salt
Vegetable oil
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
- Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.
- Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.
Brownies
- 1 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 pound plus 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped*
- 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, roughly chopped*
- 6 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons instant coffee or espresso powder
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- 2¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a cookie sheet (a 12x18x1-inch pan) and set aside.
- Place the butter, 1 pound of semisweet chocolate, and 6 ounces of unsweetened chocolate in a medium sized pot, and melt them together slowly over low heat, stirring often so that you don't burn the chocolate. If the pot gets too hot, remove it from the heat for a bit, stir, and return to the heat. Once melted, allow it to cool slightly. In a large bowl, stir (don't beat!) together the eggs, instant coffee, vanilla, and sugar. Stir the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture with a wooden spoon and allow to cool to room temperature.
- In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of flour, baking powder, and salt. Add it into the cooled chocolate mixture. Toss the walnuts (if using) and 12 ounces of semisweet chocolate in a medium bowl with ¼ cup of flour, then add them to the chocolate batter (these helps keep them from clumping together). Pour the batter into the generously buttered baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the baking sheet from the oven and tap the baking sheet against your counter top to force the air bubbles to escape from between the pan and the brownies (don't forget to do this!). Bake for another 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake - the beauty of these is that they are thick and chewy, but they're made in a sort of shallow pan, so they won't be as hard to bake through as some other brownie recipes.
- Allow the brownies to cool thoroughly (you can refrigerate them to speed up the process), then cut them into large squares. Ina recommends cutting them into 20 brownies, but if you're bringing these to a party or something, you can probably cut them into 30-35 still-pretty-big brownies.
