Tomato soup

On a cold wintry day, nothing can make a better choice for lunch than a nice hot tomato soup with toasted cheese sandwiches. 

For tomato soup you need 4 cups of of chicken and vegetable stock. (You can use store-bought chicken stock or simply make your own, as I do. I use a pressure cooker since it is a time saver and excellent for making soups. Together with 6 cups of water, add to the pot 1 pound of chicken on the bone [any part of the chicken may be used], 4 celery sticks, 1 medium carrot, and 1 medium onion cut in half. Add a teaspoon salt. Boil them for 20 minutes. Cool it off and strain the liquid. This is your stock. The boiled vegetables and chicken can be used for making salad - I will give you that recipe another day.)

1 can 6 oz (170 g) of tomato paste 

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of salt (more or less)

2 tablespoons of all purpose flour

Parsley

Pour the oil into a big frying pan and turn the heat on medium high. Put the flour and stir until all is mixed with olive oil. Add the tomato paste little by little and stir continually. When it looks like a thick paste, pour the stock in small portions until it reaches the thickness you like. When it is ready, turn off the heat. In the meantime, heat up another pan for making the grilled cheese sandwiches.

For every sandwich you need 1 oz of butter and 2 oz of cheddar cheese. Put the butter on the heated pan, and one piece of bread or half of a bread roll. Add the cheddar cheese slices and cover it with the other half of bread. Turn the sandwich over with the second half downward, to toast for 1-2 minutes. When ready, place it on a hot plate and keep it warm until you finish all the sandwiches you want to make.

Makes about 4 portions - although it is so good you can easily share it between three people and not have any leftovers!