Tomato Bisque and Pesto Dippers

Soup! It's what's for dinner. This hearty tomato soup and fresh moz and pesto sandwich start our week-long soup escapade.

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Tomato Bisque

28 ounces San Marzano tomatoes in sauce
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons bacon fat
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 cups chicken broth
1 cup onion, roughly chopped
1 cup carrots, roughly chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
6 ounces tomato paste
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon celery seeds
3-4 sprigs fresh parsley and thyme
3-4 bay leaves
1 cup heavy cream
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

For the bouquet garni, wrap the parsley, thyme and bay leaves in cheesecloth. Tie the herbs into a bundle and cut off the excess cheese cloth. Or tie the herb bundle with butcher’s twine. Set aside.

In a large dutch oven over medium heat, melt the butter and bacon grease and sweat the carrots, onion and garlic until they are tender and fragrant but not brown, about 4 minutes. Add the celery seeds and salt and fresh ground black pepper and stir for an additional minute. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir to combine, cook for an additional 3 minutes. Add the whole tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients minus the cream, and bring the soup to a gentle simmer stirring continuously to dissolve the roux in the liquids. Add the bouquet garni to the soup and submerge. Simmer the soup uncovered on medium low for 30 minutes.

Remove the herbs and discard. Purée the soup until it is smooth by either blending in batches in a blender or using an immersion blender. Return the soup to the dutch oven, if necessary and add the cream, stirring to completely combine. Serve immediately, or hold over low while you grill the pesto dippers.
Pesto Dippers

Sliced hearty white bread
Basil pesto
Fresh mozzarella, sliced
Softened butter

Spread a moderately thick layer of pesto on one slice of bread and cover with an even layer of fresh moz slices. Top with another slice of bread. Cover the top slice of bread with an medium layer of softened butter. Heat a sandwich press over low heat while you are heating the griddle. Grill the pesto dippers over medium heat on a preheated griddle, butter side down for approximately 3 minutes a side, or until they are nicely browned, turning once. The butter from the first side will be sufficient for grilling the second side. Place the heated sandwich press on the sandwich once it’s turned to continue heating the sandwich from both sides. The sandwich press will ensure that your cheese is melted without burning the bread.

Slice the pesto dippers on the diagonal and serve with the soup.

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