Sybil Kapoor's Roasted Tomato Soup

This is a great way to use up a glut of tomatoes and it freezes perfectly. Roasting helps bring out the tomatoes natural sweetness.  To dress up,  add a swirl of double cream and a few snipped chives to each bowl when serving.

Serves 6

4 tablespoons sunflower oil
2 onions, very thickly sliced
4 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
2 sticks celery, thickly sliced
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1.5 kg ripe tomatoes, destalked
3 parsley stems
6 lemon thyme sprigs
450ml good chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas 4.  Pour the oil into a large non-stick roasting tray and mix in the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and whole tomatoes.  Slip the thyme and parsley under the tomatoes so that they don’t burn as the vegetables cook.  Roast in the centre of the oven for 1 ½ hours or until soft and golden.

Discard the thyme sprigs, then add the chicken stock to the tomatoes and deglaze the roasting pan.  Scrape everything into a saucepan, add 400ml water and gently boil for 15 minutes.  Puree in a blender and strain into a clean container.  Adjust the seasoning to taste.  You can freeze once cold, otherwise reheat to serve.


From 1 August you can see further recipes on www.sybilkapoor.com