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Not even a hot Australian summer can outdo the need for the warmth and comfort of a good bowl of soup from time to time. Soup is a staple in our home. The warmth and the comfort of heady flavours and rich broth… the warm bowl on my knees. There is something about it that brings me genuine comfort on days when I’m feeling a bit shit… and let’s face it, feeling a bit shit doesn’t reserve itself for winter alone.
Tomato season is well and truly upon us and because of this I’ve got my hands on kilo’s of beautiful, flavoursome tomatoes. Not the tasteless ones you often find in the supermarket… but the lumpy, bumpy, odd shaped ones that come from people’s backyards and local farms… the ones that taste great and smell beautiful. Seeing as I don’t grow my own yet, I’m lucky to have some people around me growing tomatoes in abundance this year, and a little organic fruit van at the end of my street where I can pick up excellent little organic cherry toms grown at a farm just outside of town… when I’ve got a fruit bowl overflowing with tomatoes there is only one thing to do.
Make soup.
Then eat it.
Roasted Tomato Soup {for the soul}
Ingredients:
1 kg of good quality mixed variety tomatoes (make sure you’ve got some cherry toms in there!)
1-2 heads of garlic – top sliced off, roasted whole
3 yellow onions
Fresh basil
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch raw sugar
1 cup water
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to season.
Natural yoghurt, croutons + fresh basil to serve.
Method:
Preheat oven to 200C
Slice all of your large tomatoes in half in baking trays leaving their green stalk on if they’ve got them. Add to the pan cherry tomatoes (whole), onions (quartered) and garlic (whole, with the top cut off). Give the lot a good splash of olive oil and sprinkle with a pinch of both sea salt and raw sugar.
Put the trays into the oven and cook for around 45 minutes or until the tomatoes have begun to really break down and the onion is caramalised. Pop the garlic cloves of one head of garlic out of their shell and add them to a cast iron pot along with the onions, tomatoes and any rogue juices that are hanging about in the baking trays. Add water and balsamic vinegar and a handful of fresh basil leaves. Turn the stove to medium and put the lid on the pot. Let the soup cook for about 30-45 minutes, you want it to reduce down and become a squishy, delicious mess of broken down tomatoes – but be careful not to let it dry out. Add another 1/2 cup of water if necessary along the way.
When everything is broken down and soup juices have reduced take the pan off the stove and blitz in a blender or food processor. I like to keep it a bit chunky and rustic, but you can puree it smooth if you prefer less chunks.
That’s it. Simple. No complicated ingredients. No fancy techniques. Just good, honest, locally grown comfort food.
I like to serve mine with a handful of fresh basil, a bit of chilli oil and some fresh natural yoghurt. Bo likes hers with a big helping of homemade garlic croutons… You can have yours however you like.
Food cooked with love for people you love always tastes best… it’s a simple recipe really. Use fresh, locally grown produce and make something that you would love to eat and then share it with people you love. You really can’t go wrong.
Naomi @ (Not) Just A Mummy - Yum, yum, YUM! I am becomingly increasingly obsessed with soup.. Even though it’s still summer and hot. Bizarre really. I’ve been hankering to make a big pot of lentil/lemon and yoghurt BUT think good old fashioned tomato might need a run now.! I’ve found adding a bit of either homemade veggie or homemade chicken stock also works a treat in really bringing out the flavours in a pot of tomato. Oh so simple and oh so tasty.
Alinta - Yum! Looks delish! Now I feel like tomato soup!!!:)