Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Lasagna

OMG, when I saw this, I knew I would have to make it and I haven't stopped thinking about it since...  I mean, isn't every childhood reminiscent of comforting grilled cheese sandwiches and Campbell's tomato soup?  I know mine was and I know this was one of my son's favorites too.  I had to dunk,  I loved to dip the sandwich in the soup.  My son never did and still doesn't - unless I bug him about it - I'm always like, "dip it in your soup!", lol.  I remember when he returned from Europe after 32 days away, I made him an elevated grilled cheese and homemade tomato soup (with a side of bacon) to welcome him home.

Normally I like to order in food on Fridays.  I don't like to cook on that day in general.  However, this didn't seem too difficult to make and I went out for lunch earlier.  I was debating on whether to change it up...like, should I change the bread to sourdough?  Should I use marinara sauce instead of the soup?  Should I add bacon?  Should I add in some Monterey Jack cheese?  Should I spice it up?

In the end, I decided some fresh basil would be good and I thought I'd add a good pinch of crushed chili flakes & cayenne pepper to the soup mixture.  I also added a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste to the soup to strengthen the tomato flavor.  The recipe called for 5 eggs so I used two, and then used egg whites to make up the rest.  I don't know, but using "Wonder" white bread seemed to me the bread I should use for this.  And bacon!  What isn't better with bacon???  I cheated.  I used 2 packs (12 slices - really thin) of that bacon that is already made for you.  (I buy this for my son to make English muffin breakfast sandwiches with it, on work days).

I nuked them following package instructions and then cut them up into bacon bits, to sprinkle on the first two layers.

I started by toasting the bread.  6 pieces a tray, on both sides.  I needed 18 slices of bread.  It was a full loaf of Wonder but it was one slice short, so I borrowed one from my whole wheat loaf.  I put it in the middle row, middle spot, middle layer - like a surprise, lol.

 OOPS, I was supposed to butter the bread.  This recipe was hard to follow because you had to click through slides.  Oh well, we'd see how it worked out...I didn't want to butter it after it was toasted.

I chopped the bunch of green onions and basil next.

I whisked all the liquid ingredients and eggs together.

My "absent sous chef" son grated the cheese for me.  So, I was now ready to assemble.  I sprayed a 9" x 13" pan with "Pam".  So, the recipe said to assemble it and then pour the soup over at the very end.  I didn't do that.  I did it like I make regular lasagna.  I started with some on the bottom...

I put a layer of the toast down and then another layer of the soup mixture.

I put some cheese down next and then some bacon on top of that.

The green onions, basil and cracking of pepper finished the first layer.

I repeated the same thing two more times but no bacon on the top layer.  I put the whole casserole dish on a foil lined baking sheet in case it dripped over.  Below is what it looked like going into the oven.

I put it in for 45 minutes.  Below is looked when it came out.  I let it rest for 10 minutes before I cut it.

My son was starving now, so I served him first.  It was pretty easy, I just cut a sandwich out for him!

This was kind of like a triple-decker grilled cheese.  I was nervous about this, but he wolfed that down before I even served myself.  He loved it.  We both liked the basil and the bit of "heat" from the chilies and cayenne.  Total comfort food dinner.  I highly recommend it!

EDIT:  10/22/16:

When I heated this up the next day, the soup had absorbed completely, so don't heat it too long or it will become dry.