gochujang tomato soup with cheesy rice cakes

The other day, I found myself at a restaurant that served up a bunch of classic american fare — burgers, sandwiches, fries. But the one thing I really wanted was the tomato soup and grilled cheese that was only available on the kid’s menu. Idk about you but I feel weird ordering the kids menu at a sit-down restaurant, so I decided to recreate it at home with a twist using early girl tomatoes from the farmers market. The roasted tomatoes and garlic, paired with a touch of gochujang and fish sauce, bring a bold Korean flair to the soup. And instead of the usual grilled cheese, I opted for cheesy grilled rice cake skewers, which turned out to be a perfect, gooey companion.

i used (for 3):

• 2 pounds early girl tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 large yellow onion, sliced thinly
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp gochujang
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 slice of white/sourdough bread
• ~30 cylindrical rice cakes
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter

to make:

• in a lined pan, add in tomatoes and layer on onion and garlic
• coat with olive oil, salt, and sugar, give it a toss to mix
• roast for 20-25 minutes at 425F and then let cool
• add everything from the roasting tray into a blender (including all the juices!) along with chicken broth, gochujang, and half a slice of bread
• blend on medium-high until the blender feels warm too touch and everything is well-mixed
• adjust seasonings to taste, add in more bread if it feels like your soup could use more body/thickness