Gourmet Grilled Cheese with Chunky Tomato Soup!

My husband and I love grilled cheese and tomato soup! Usually, we just go for good old American slime cheese on English muffin bread with a nice can of Campbell's condensed tomato bisque soup... but today, we decided to try something a little special.

We ate at our favorite restaurant the other day and finally tried something *new*. Dan went for the "Triple G" Grilled Cheese Sandwich while I tried the Loaded Mac'n'Cheese. While my mac'n'cheese left something to be desired, the "Triple G" was an exceptional grilled cheese sandwich. They used marble rye bread, goat cheese and gouda, a sliced avocado, and a tomato. It was amazing!

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of goat cheese and considering how expensive it is, I decided to try my sandwich with a cream cheese and ricotta mixture. I wanted the same fluffy texture that is present with goat cheese, but with the flavor of cream cheese. It ended up being quite tasty!

Ingredients (for 3 sandwiches)
6 tbsp fat free ricotta
3 tbsp 1/3 less fat cream cheese
3 deli slices of havarti
1 medium tomato, sliced
3 oz of aged, white cheddar (cut about 3 slices per sandwich)
6 slices of marble rye
6 tbsp softened margarine / butter

Directions
Butter one side of each of the six slices of marble rye bread.
Then mix the ricotta and cream cheeses in a bowl until well combined. Put three of the marble rye slices butter side down on a griddle (or frying pan). Then put the Harvarti slice on next. Spread the cream cheese mixture in the middle of the bread. Stay about 1/2" away from the edges or it will spill out the sides and make clean up more difficult.
Then cut up the tomato and put 1.5-2 slices on top. Next, place the cheddar slices on the bread. Finally, top it off with the marble rye slices keeping the buttered side facing up.
Cook over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes or until browned. Flip carefully (I used a fork and a spatula so that it didn't fall apart) and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until browned.

*Note: the photos show me spreading the cream cheese layer directly onto the bread. After making the sandwich a second time, I put the Harvarti on first and kept the cream cheese mixture to the middle. It greatly increased my ability to flip the sandwich without it falling apart and there was much less cheese oozing out the sides the second time!

Enjoy with a warm cup of homemade tomato soup!

Ingredients for Tomato Soup (makes about 3-4 cups)
1 14oz. can of diced tomatoes
Salt & pepper
Roasted red pepper
Italian seasoning
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp of olive oil
1.25 cups chicken broth
1 6oz can of tomato paste

Directions for Tomato Soup
Strain the diced tomatoes, reserving the juices for later. Take the diced tomatoes and pour them into a medium sauce-pan. Add the spices to taste, garlic, and olive oil. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes.
Add the chicken broth and stir well. Then add the tomato paste. Cook over medium-low heat until soup is well combined and thick. Serving size is about one cup.

I made the soup and sandwiches today and it was incredible! I'm still in the experimental stages, but then... that's cooking, right? I can't wait until the next mealtime to try some other combinations of the incredible, edible grilled cheese sammich!