Recipe Background
The perfect duo in The Perfect Duo Casserole is in fact grilled cheese and tomato soup. It's obvious in hindsight: the buttery, crispy sandwiches loaded with melty cheese, just ready for dunking and dipping into the bright, creamy, scarlet soup! Mmm, sounds good already! The Perfect Duo Casserole keeps the sandwiches and uses a thick, rich tomato sauce to make sure you don't miss the soup at all! Throw on even more cheese, because of course, and bam! You'll understand, if you didn't already, why these foods go together hand-in-hand.
The perfect duo in The Perfect Duo Casserole is in fact grilled cheese and tomato soup. It's obvious in hindsight: the buttery, crispy sandwiches loaded with melty cheese, just ready for dunking and dipping into the bright, creamy, scarlet soup! Mmm, sounds good already! The Perfect Duo Casserole keeps the sandwiches and uses a thick, rich tomato sauce to make sure you don't miss the soup at all! Throw on even more cheese, because of course, and bam! You'll understand, if you didn't already, why these foods go together hand-in-hand.
Ingredients
- 3 ounces cream cheese
- 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil divided
- 12 (1/2-inch-thick) slices Italian sourdough, or rye bread
- 6 slices mozzarella cheese part-skim
- 6 tablespoons butter softened
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 3/4 cups 2% milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup Italian cheese blend shredded
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
- In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese and 1 teaspoon of the basil until blended.
- Spread the cream cheese onto 6 slices of the bread.
- Top the cream cheese spread with the mozzarella cheese and the remaining bread slices.
- Spread the butter on the outside of the sandwiches.
- Arrange the sandwiches in the prepared baking dish.
- In a small saucepan, combine the tomato paste, the garlic, the salt, the pepper, and the remaining basil.
- Cook and stir the tomato paste mixture over medium heat for 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk the milk into the tomato paste mixture.
- Bring the mixture to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered and stirring frequently, until thickened, about 4-5 minutes.
- Transfer the saucepan from the heat.
- Beat the eggs in a large bowl.
- Slowly, while whisking constantly, stream in 1/3 of the milk mixture. The goal is to slowly bring the eggs' temperature up so they do not scramble.
- Once the eggs are tempered, add in the remaining milk mixture.
- Pour the milk mixture over the sandwiches.
- Sprinkle the sandwiches with the Italian cheese blend.
- Bake, uncovered, until golden brown and the cheese is melted, about 25-30 minutes.
- Let stand for 10 minutes.
- Serve.
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