Avocado & Chimichurri Grilled Cheese
with pureed parsnip soup
Ingredients
- Parsley - 1/2 bunch
- Cilantro - 1/4 bunch
- Shallots - 1/2 bulb
- Garlic - 1 clove, peeled
- Red wine vinegar - 2 Tbsp
- Capers - 1/2 Tbsp
- Olive oil - 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup
- Avocados - 2, sliced
- Butter - 4 Tbsp
- Sandwich bread - 8 slices
- Mozzarella - 8 slices ((fontina, swiss, or gruyere would also be great options))
- Homemade chimichurri sauce - 1/2 cup ((ingredients listed separately))
- Leeks, large - 2, chopped
- Parsnips - 1 1/4 lb, chopped
- Butter - 2 Tbsp
- Chicken stock - 3 to 4 cups
- Salt - 1 tsp
- Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Sauce - {If you made this Monday, you're done!} Pulse parsley, cilantro, shallots, garlic, red wine vinegar, and capers in a food processor while drizzling in olive oil. You want to add enough until the sauce, well, turns into a sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Avocados - Slice. This video is for cubing but I think you'll get the idea.
- Leeks / Parsnips - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
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Make
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) degrees. Place a cooling rack into a sheet pan and then put into warming oven.
- Heat a >5 quart Dutch oven (4.73 liters) over medium-high heat. Add butter and then leeks to heated oil with a generous dash of salt. Saute until softened, ~2 minutes.
- Add the parsnips, enough broth / stock to cover all ingredients, salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a boil and then simmer covered for 10 minutes.
- While soup is simmering, butter one side of each piece of bread with about 1/2 tbs. (7.4 ml) of butter each. Lay out the bread buttered-side down and place a slice of cheese on each. Layer with chimichurri sauce and then avocado slices. Close sandwiches.
- Heat up a griddle or a skillet over medium heat. Place sandwiches onto heated surface (as many as can fit) and press down throughout the grilling process with a spatula. Flip once the first side is golden, ~ 3 to 4 minutes. Move sandwiches onto cooling rack and keep warm until you're ready to eat.
- After soup cools down some, puree with an immersion blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If you want additional richness, you can add butter. If there is more chimichurri, you can even try putting it in the soup! Enjoy with your warm grilled cheeses.
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
15 reviews
My husband said that of all the recipes I've ever made in our marriage, this is probably his favorite. Even my two picky sons ate it up. Unfortunately, I'm currently on a medically restrictive diet, so I have no idea how it is; however, I can't wait to try this soon since my husband wants it in the regular rotation. The only thing he did differently is put the avocados on top of the sandwich after it was grilled since he doesn't like hot avocado. We also didn't do the soup with it because it didn't sound appealing to us.
0 HelpfulUsed gouda and microwaved 1st to make sure the sandwich was melty enough. Soup was good, better with the chimichurri sauce.
0 HelpfulLoved the combo! Next time, I'll put more chimichurri sauce on the grilled cheese and maybe spice up the soup. Just a bit bland, but good.
0 HelpfulLOVE... the chimichurri was ridiculously good. Agreed. I've considering pouring this over everything.
0 HelpfulLove the soup. I added lots of pepper and 2/3 cooking sherry. It gave it another layer of taste. This is very tasty and fun with the chimichurri sauce. Now I have extra sauce to use over our Thanksgiving leftover salmon. ( not from the salmon from Monday). Vegetarian
0 Helpful