IHCC: Kid at Heart: Giada's Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary with Taleggio and Pear Panini

      The sixth week theme for I Heart Cooking Clubs, featuring chef Giada De Laurentiis, was Kid at Heart, so I chose Giada's Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary, recipe on page 44-45, as well as Taleggio and Pear Panini, recipe on page 56, both in the Giada's Kitchen cookbook. You can also find the recipes here and here. 

      I love soup.  I think I could have soup every single lunch and never get tired of it...wait, I already do have soup for lunch much of the time and I never get tired of it.  When I was in elementary school I think that is pretty much all I ever ate for lunch:  Campbell's Tomato Soup and a Grilled Cheese Sandwich...it was my favorite lunch, and while I have stepped up a bit from canned tomato soup and sandwiches made with Wonder bread and Kraft Singles from my childhood, I still love a great tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich. 

      When the theme for this week was "Kid at Heart," I knew exactly what I was going to make.  The Hearty Tomato Soup with Lemon and Rosemary is wonderful.  The photo in the book had one very nice dollop of whipped rosemary lemon cream perched on top, so I did that and it started melting before I could get my photo...oh, well, I tried.  It was great all melty like that as there are hot pepper flakes in the soup, so the cream cools the heat down a bit while adding more lemon and rosemary flavor.

      Ingredient list:  Tomatoes, Carrots, Onion, Cannellini Beans, Garlic, Chicken Broth, Bay Leaf, Rosemary, Red Pepper Flakes, Salt, Pepper, Cream, Lemon Zest.  It goes together easily.  Delicious, definitely a repeat. 

      The panini sandwich ingredient list:  Ciabatta Bread, Olive Oil, Taleggio Cheese, Pears, Honey, Salt, Pepper, and Fresh Spinach. 

      Oh, my goodness was this a great sandwich!  I don't have a panini press, so I just made grilled cheese sandwiches with it and it worked just fine.  This one is definitely a repeat, actually, we are having it again tomorrow for lunch as Mark was very happy with it as well. 

      Next week's theme is Fall Favorites, come join in, just leave your link at the I Heart Cooking Clubs site.