Homemade Tomato Soup Recipe

Author: Kelly the Kitchen Kop

Your favorite bread-- sourdough bread is the healthiest bread you can eat, but we also sometimes use fermented bread from a local baker that's really good.
Your favorite cheese-- raw grass fed cheese is best. PLEASE don't even THINK about using “processed American” or Velveeta cheese slices, those are so fake they shouldn't even be called food—cheddar or colby slices taste so much better anyway!
Pastured butter to spread on the bread

8 Tablespoons butter, again, pastured butter is best
8 Tablespoons --flour I like to use einkorn flour or spelt flour, or even unbleached wheat flour
About 3-4 cups milk-- sometimes I use part milk, part cream, other times I also add in part homemade chicken broth for even more nutrients! — read about why to NEVER use ultra-pasteurized dairy — also at that post I explain how you can tell. Also, I now know how quick and simple pressure cooker broth is so I can make some mineral-rich broth more quickly in a pinch. If you just don't think you will make it or want some on hand for when you're really crunched for time, try this bone broth — it's 100% grass-fed with a bunch of gelatin, organic ingredients, and it's shelf stable! I love keeping their beef and chicken broth on-hand for quick recipes because they make it just like I do here, and without the nasty msg-like ingredients, additives, or preservatives that store-bought has.
One can of organic tomato paste
28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes-- or fresh tomatoes from the farm market or from your garden!
Sea salt and pepper to taste
If desired-- sometimes I also add fresh chopped or dried onions or onion powder, or other spices like thyme, basil, oregano, and maybe a bit of natural sugar. Some also like a little red pepper to give it a kick.

Make a white sauce by melting butter in a medium saucepan on medium heat, add flour and whisk well, keeping heat high enough to make it bubble a little, but low enough not to burn. After it bubbles about a minute or two (and it looks like it's thicker), slowly add milk (or cream or broth) to make however much soup you think you'll need and to make it the consistency you like (some like it thicker, some like it thin). Keep whisking and add tomato paste and tomatoes. Add sea salt and pepper to taste – this is the key to making it delicious. Add in the other herbs or spices as you taste-test.
For the grilled cheese we use cast iron pans or if we're making a lot of sandwiches, we'll use my favorite pan because we can make so many at once. I'm sure you know how to make grilled cheese, but just in case there's someone out there who doesn't (?), put cheese between two pieces of bread, generously butter the sides that are going onto the pan, and cook 'til golden, making sure to watch so they don't burn. Time them to be done about when the soup is ready.
Serve together, of course, because nothing is better than dipping your grilled cheese into your tomato soup!