Roasted tomato soup

Phew. It's been quite some time since my last post. Sorry. Work, Easter and the beginning of summer term have been keeping me quite busy.

But now for the new stuff. Actually, it isn't new stuff but very old: Roasted tomato soup. One of my staple recipes. 

 (No, that's not soup. I know.)

It goes with every season, every mood, every occasion. In the beginning, I only made this as comfort food because it's homey and uplifting and full of everything's-gonna-be-alright flavours. But as it isn't one of those calorie bomb I'm-gaining-10-pounds-from-one-spoonful recipes, you don't have to reserve it for those moments when your mood has hit rock bottom and you just don't care about how fattening your dinner may be as long as it makes you feel better.

Plus: It's not expensive, there's next to no effort involved and even if it isn't the quickest recipe, it doesn't take forever, either.

(Aaaah, THERE's the soup! This picture was taken before I added the cream. Amazing how orange it is, isn't it? All thanks to the roasting.)

The recipe is, of course, one of Sophie's. It must be from the television show as I couldn't find it in any of the cookbooks. I actually wanted to look it up to give you the original quantities because I stopped using the recipe after the first couple of times and just made it from memory. Well, then, here goes my version:

Roasted tomato soup

Serves 1

5 medium tomatoes

Half a medium onion

2 cloves of garlic

A few branches of thyme and rosemary

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Balsamic vinegar

Maple syrup (Sophie uses brown sugar if I remember correctly. Maple syrup is the healthier and, if you ask me, tastier alternative but you can use whatever appeals to you.)

Single cream
Vegetable stock (optional)

Goat's cheese (optional)

Preheat your oven to 200° C/390° F.

Quarter the tomatoes, slice the onion, halve the garlic, chop the herbs. Place everything in a roasting tin, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and give it a healthy shower of olive oil.

Put in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.

When done, remove from the oven and put in a blender. Add a dash of balsamic vinegar and a bit of maple syrup.. Blend until smooth, then pour into a bowl. If you find the soup to be too thick, add a bit of warm vegetable stock and blend again. Refine with a bit of cream and some more vinegar if you like. It goes great with some crumbled goat's cheese and/or a slice of toasted baguette, too.