Charred Tomato Soup with Pesto and Prosciutto Stromboli

Since this is my first recipe, I'll tell you something about the people who eat what I cook everyday. If I didn't live with my grandparents, my grandfather would feed himself and my grandmother frozen TV dinners. Every day. It sickens me. My husband, who is from Australia, ate fast food for every meal, every day (how is it that he's only 150 pounds?). It sickens me. I love to cook, and think everyone deserves a home-cooked meal every day for dinner. I usually get stuck into making the same meals every week with not too much change up. My husband and grandfather just want meat and potatoes everyday. So, this is my resolution. To introduce new foods we've never tried, or switch up favorites into something different.

I try to limit myself on how much I spend on groceries every week. Of course, trying out these new recipes I'll most likely have to buy quite a bit. With each recipe, I'll post how much I spent on ingredients, then a total price of the entire meal. A meal that will be costly, in my opinion, isn't worth it for every day making. We'll see how the recipes I choose meet my spending limit!

My first recipe of seven! This recipe comes from Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats.

My husband usually doesn't ever eat soup. This soup is a on the thin side, but good with the stromboli! It's a lot spicier than I thought it would be as well! Oh my. My lips were burnin'!


All the ingredients you need! Except I did forget to add garlic in the picture...


Tomatoes and onions getting ready to get into the broiler. Sprinkled with olive oil, salt and pepper. Yummy.


Naked unrolled strombolis. I decided 12 slices of prosciutto was too expensive and just went with six slices.


Strombolis all rolled up and sprinkled with sesame seeds, dried red pepper flakes and Italian seasoning.


Tomatoes and onions after they came out of the oven and into the blender. You know, I thought I almost caught the oven on fire with these tomatoes. I took the pan out of the oven, and when I did, a huge flame shot up at me! I think it's time for a new oven...


Tomato Puree with added cream. Almost done!


Finished tomato soup with stromboli.

Charred Tomato Soup with Pesto Prosciutto Stromboli
Recipe by: Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats Cookbook

6 ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise 1 small red onion, cut into chunks 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling salt and pepper 1 tube refrigerated pizza dough 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour or cornmeal 1/2 cup store-bought pesto 12 slices prosciutto di Parma 4 slices Provolone 2 tablespoons sesame seeds 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 3 garlic cloves, chopped 1 quart chicken stock or broth 1 cup heavy cream 20 fresh basil leaves, shredded or torn

$2.75 $1.23 Staple Item Staple Item $2.24 Staple Item $2.99 $3.48 $1.55 Staple Item $.50 $1.98 $.30 $1.34 $2.18 $2.88

If an item says it's a staple item that means that I used so little of the full product that it wasn't worth the math to figure out each teaspoon, etc. Haha.

Total Price of Meal: $23.42

You can easily get 6 servings of soup from this meal (even though Rachael Ray says 4), although you'd probably need to make more strombolis!

1. Preheat the broiler to high.

2. Arrange the plum tomato halves, skin side down, with the onions on a rimmed cookie sheet. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil on the vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Broil for about 4 minutes, flip, and continue to broil for 3 minutes, or until the tomatoes and onions are slightly charred. Lower the oven setting to 400 F.

3. Dust your hands and the dough lightly with flour or cornmeal and unroll the dough out onto a work surface. Stretch out the dough, gently spreading its rectangle shape. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces (you'll end up with four square pieces of dough). Cover each piece of dough with 2 tablespoons of the pesto.

4. Fold 3 slices of the prosciutto and 1 slice of the Provolone to fit each pesto-covered piece of dough, then roll each piece on an angle from corner to corner, making a long roll. Brush the rolls with extra virgin olive oil, then mix the sesame seeds, Italian seasoning, and 1/2 teaspoon of the red pepper flakes in a small cup. Sprinkle and pat the mixture onto the strombolis, place in the oven, and bake until evenly golden, 12 to 14 minutes.

5. Place the tomatoes and onions in a blender or food processor, and puree until somewhat smooth.

6. Preheat a soup pot over medium-high heat, add the 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and add the garlic and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Saute the garlic for a minute, then add the pureed vegetables and the chicken stock. When the soup comes to a bubble, stir in the heavy cream, then season with salt and pepper. Simmer the soup for 8 to 10 minutes.

7. When ready to serve, turn off the soup and stir in the basil. Adjust the salt and pepper to your liking. Serve the soup alongside the pesto and prosciutto stromboli, dipping them in the soup as you eat them.