Roasted Tomato Soup

Last week I mentioned my mega-organised day in the kitchen where I made stock and roasted tomatoes, amongst many other things. The other night we finally got to enjoy the final spoils of that day, with a new recipe for roasted tomato soup. It was beautiful ~ so much better than something out of a tin. I can also testify that all the hard work can be done ahead so all you have to do is put it together.

Roasted Tomato Soup

1 bulb garlic, unpeeled, cloves separated
1kg roma tomatoes, halved lengthways (any tomatoes will do)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup fresh basil leaves, finely shredded
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a tray with baking paper; place tomato (cut-side up) and garlic on prepared tray. Drizzle with half the oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes or until tomato is tender. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
2. Peel garlic, discard skins. Process tomato, garlic and half the shredded basil until smooth. Strain through a sieve into a heatproof bowl. Discard tomato seeds.
3. Heat remaining oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion. Cook, sitrring, for 3 minutes or until soft. Add tomato paste. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add stock and tomato mixture. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer stirring oaccasionally, for 10 minutes or until mixture has thickened slightly. Stir in remaining shredded basil.

Of course, I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I roasted the garlic with the tomatoes, in its skin and. I also left the garlic and tomatoes whole and put it all in the pot in step 3. Then I used a stabl blender in the pot to process everything to smooth and left the seeds in. And I used dried basil cos it's all I had.

I intended to make polenta wedges, but didn't end up getting to it. Would've been nice though.