Roasted tomato soup

The ultimate recipe for tomato soup. You won't buy it from a can ever again!

serves 4

Ingredients
1,5 kg ripe plum tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
2 onions, finely sliced
vegetable stock, about 750ml (we use an organic vegetable cube)
olive oil
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C. Rinse the tomatoes and cut them in half. Place in a roasting dish together with the garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes until the tomatoes are well roasted and they have released their juices.

Heat a large pan with a good glug of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and sweat until soft for 7-10 minutes. Add the roasted tomatoes with their juices and vegetable stock to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 15 minutes.

Blend the soup in a blender or with a stick blender until smooth. Season, if needed with salt and pepper. Reheat the soup and serve as is or with creme fraiche and basil.


Preserved Lemons

Preserved lemons are easy to make. They are used a lot in Middle Eastern and North African cooking to add a citrusy boost to dishes. 

Ingredients

4-6 lemons, washed per jar
1 tablespoon salt per lemon
1-2 bay leaves per jar

Method
Sterilise a couple of jars (whatever size you have).

Cut the lemons lengthways into quarters keeping the stalk end on.

Mix them with 1 tablespoon salt per lemon and stuff them into the jars as tightly as you can, add 1-2 bay leaves per jar. Gradually over the course of a few days, liquid will be released from the lemons. The liquid should cover the lemons completely.

At the end of that time they should be refrigerated. The lemons will last for a year if you make sure you use a clean spoon whenever you remove any from the jar. To use, discard the flesh of the lemons and use the rind.