I’ve still got tomatoes growing on my roof (ledge), which feels all wrong when its so much cooler and wetter now. I’ve been neglecting them in the hope they’d just go away (how do I get 4 tomato plants, plus 2 large gro-bags down from there?) but instead of shriveling to nothing as I hoped they produced 14 more tomatoes. Then my mother came to stay and brought me a bag of hers. Plus there’s a large bag in the fridge from an earlier harvest, and I’d bought some from the farmers market. So I’ve been suffering from tomato guilt (and glut) for some time, especially as I don’t feel like tomato salads or tomato salsas as they’re just too summery. So, at the suggestion of my husband, I made roast tomato soup yesterday and it is absolutely delicious. Unexpectedly so. And dead easy. I’m not giving specific quantities as you can honestly make this up as you go along – it’s that fool proof.
By the way, the idea of putting a little smoked paprika in the soup came from Heidi Swanson at http://www.101cookbooks.com/index.html. I love her blog – a great source of vegetarian ideas and delicious things to do with boring stuff in your fridge. It also has gorgeous photos.
Roast tomato soup
Serves: depends on how many tomatoes you’re getting rid of…
Prep: 10 mins Cooking: 45mins
Tomatoes, quartered – as many as you want to get rid of but you need enough to cover the base of a roasting tin along with the other ingredients
1 x red pepper, deseeded and thickly sliced
Onions, peeled and roughly chopped – I used one red and one normal
5 x cloves garlic, peeled
Olive oil
salt and pepper
Approx 250g – 500g chicken or vegetable stock
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
Chop your tomatoes in to quarters and put them in a large roasting tin, add the chopped pepper, onions and garlic and drizzle with some olive oil and a bit of salt and pepper. Roast in the oven at about 200C for 45 mins or until the veg is all cooked and nicely charred. Tip in to a large bowl and whiz with a hand blender, or tip into a food processor and do the same, though I think you might have to do this bit by bit. As you whiz, start adding the stock bit by bit. I didn’t want mine too perfect, instead quite rustic looking, so I didn’t blitz the tomatoes to a smooth paste but left a few ‘bits’ in. Keep adding the stock till you have the consistency you want, I reckon it should be fairly thick – this is meant to be a warming, wintery-looking soup after all. Add some more salt and pepper and the smoked paprika till it tastes how you like it. Re-heat and serve.
What's for dinner, darling? 