A few months ago I purchased a cookbook titled Williams-Sonoma Soup of the Day, 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year by Kate McMillan. We’ve only made a handful of recipes from this book so far, but every single one of them has been absolutely delicious and really, really easy to make. (I posted this Chorizo and Chicken Stew with Avocado Crema last October.)
We were browsing through the book for a delicious soup to make when my eyes got really wide after coming to a page with this sun-dried tomato recipe. It had some beautiful lumps of crab on top of it. I would have never thought to add that to a soup like this, but the crab meat was amazing on top of the soup! The mild flavor of the crab went so well with the strong flavors of the soup. And as for the grilled cheese sandwich…it is definitely the best one I’ve ever had. Justin crusted both slices of bread with Parmesan cheese for a little added crispiness and the avocado and prosciutto were delicious with the cheese.
Sun-Dried Tomato Soup
Yield 4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, julienned
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 pound lump crabmeat
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and saute them until soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add the sun-dried tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and broth and bring it all to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove the soup from the heat and let it cool slightly. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor. (We use our immersion blender right in the pot.)
- Return the soup to the saucepan over low heat and add in the cream.
- Stir it all to combine, season it with salt and pepper, and serve, topped with the crab meat and sprinkled with the chives. (Justin is allergic to shellfish so we topped our soup with Krab. You can also substitute cooked shrimp or some delicious croutons!)
Prosciutto & Avocado Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Yield 2 sandwiches
Ingredients
- 4 slices of your favorite bread (We used a very simple wheat sandwich bread, but fancier breads are delicious too!)
- 2 tablespoons butter
- grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 slices of Muenster cheese
- 2 slices of Provolone cheese
- 1 large avocado, pitted and cut into 8 slices
- 4 slices of Prosciutto or bacon
Instructions
- If you’re using bacon, go ahead and cook that first (don’t with prosciutto). Set aside the bacon to cool while you prep your sandwiches.
- Heat up a heavy skillet or grill pan on medium heat.
- Lay your 4 slices out in front of you and coat 1 side of each slice with butter.
- Sprinkle some grated Parmesan on the sides with the butter until it’s fully coated with cheese.
- Take your bread slices and turn them so the Parmesan is facing down and begin to layer your cheeses, meat, and avocado slices. (We usually do one slice of Muenster, bacon/prosciutto, 4 avocado slices, then the provolone slice.)
- Assemble the second bread slice on top and place the sandwiches in your pan.
- Let the sandwiches sit on the heat until the Parmesan is golden and crispy (time varies so keep an eye on the Parmesan).
- Carefully flip the sandwiches over and crisp up the other side as well.
- When the Parmesan is crispy and the inside cheeses have melted, remove the sandwiches from the stove and set them aside to cool.