Habanero Grilled Cheese with Jalapeno-Tomato Soup

Tomato soup and grilled cheese are a match made in heaven, especially when you make them from scratch and include plenty of habanero peppers!

Habanero Grilled Cheese

Ingredients

• 4 slices Italian bread
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 habanero pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 ounces Asiago cheese
• 2 ounces Pepperjack cheese
• 2 ounces Colbyjack cheese
• 1/2 red Bartlett pear, sliced thin

Cooking Directions

• Butter the Italian bread slices and set aside.
• To a food processor (I used a molcajete), add habanero, onion, olive oil and salt and pepper. Process or grind to combine to a paste.
• Chop all the cheeses into a mixture and set aside.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Heat a large flat pan to medium-high heat.
• Spread habanero paste over the non-buttered bread slices.
• Grill bread slices butter side down. Cook about 2-3 minutes until they are crispy and brown.
• Set bread slices onto a baking sheet and Divide cheeses over the paste spread.
• Bake for 5 minutes, or until cheeses are nice and melted. Remove from oven.
• Set pear slices over cheeses and combine the slices into 2 sandwiches.
• Slice into triangles and serve!

We served ours with our own Jalapeno-Tomato Soup – see below.

Jalapeno-Tomato Soup

Ingredients

• 3-4 jalapeno peppers, chopped
• 1 habanero pepper, chopped
• 2 small sweet onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon flour
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon chili powder

Cooking Directions

• Heat a sauté pan to medium heat. Add olive oil with jalapeno peppers, habanero, garlic and onions. Cook about 5 minutes, or until ingredients are softened.
• While the above is cooking, heat a large pot to medium heat and add butter. Allow butter to melt.
• Add flour to butter and stir to form a roux. Cook about 5-6 minutes until nutty brown.
• Add peppers and onions to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Stir.
• Add chicken broth and stir. Bring to a light boil and reduce heat to simmer.
• Add stewed tomatoes and chili powder and simmer about 10 minutes.
• Use an immersion blender to process the soup. You can also transfer the soup in small batches to a blender to process and return to the soup pot. Process until smooth.
• Serve!

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