One of our favorite Los Angeles restaurants is Beauty & Essex, and their Grilled Cheese Dumplings in Tomato Soup recipe is always a crowd pleaser. It’s perfect as a starter to a more hearty meal, or as a component in a shared plate assortment.
4tablespoonsminced chives or green onionfor garnish
Instructions
Make the Grilled Cheese Filling
Beat the cheeses together in a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer until combined. Add the chopped tomato, basil and chives. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the mixture is chilled.
Prepare the Dumpling Wrappers
Cut dumpling wrappers into 2 3/4-inch rounds with a cookie cutter or ring mold. Brush dumpling wrappers lightly with the beaten egg. Fill with 1 teaspoon of the cheese mixture. Fold the wrappers inward to create a dumpling, leaving a bit of the filling peeking over the top of the wrapper.
Transfer the dumplings to a waxed paper lined baking sheet.
If you don’t want use dumpling wrappers, you can put the filling between slices of buttered white bread, fry them, and cut them into small triangles or squares for serving.
Cooking the Dumplings
Fill a large skillet with about 1/2 inch of cooking oil. Heat until shimmering.
Add dumplings to the hot oil, standing upward, using kitchen tongs. Make sure only the bottoms and sides of the wrappers tough the oil.
Fry until the sides of the dumplings are golden brown, about 1 minute.
Transfer dumplings carefully to a wire rack to drain.
Serving
Divide the hot soup among six to eight soup bowls. Transfer three or four dumplings to each soup bowl. Sprinkle with the bacon and chives. Serve immediately.
To serve as an appetizer, serve in Asian soup spoons filled with the tomato soup and one dumpling per spoon. Sprinkle with the bacon and chives.