Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg Tomatoes
• 1 1/2 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 White onion (medium sized)
• 2 Celery sticks
• 4-5 Garlic cloves (I like a lot of garlic, feel free to use less (or more!))
• 10 Fresh basil leaves
• 3 sprigs Fresh thyme
• 1 tbsp Balsamic glaze
• 2 tbsp Tomato puree
• 1 tsp Sugar (granulated or caster/superfine)
• 35 ml Double cream (or a dairy free cream)
• 75 ml Water
• 1 Vegetable stock cube (I used Oxo)
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions

1. 1

   Pre-heat your oven to 200C Fan/425F/Gas Mark 7

2. 2

   Cut the tomatoes into quarters and toss them in 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil

3. 3

   Spread them out into a roasting tray, or a baking tray with a lip, and roast for 25 minutes

4. 4

   Meanwhile, put a large soup pot on a low heat and add the remaining vegetable oil. Finely chop the onion, celery and garlic and add to the pot, cook until soft, around 5-10 minutes

5. 5

   Remove the tomatoes from the oven and add them, including all liquid they've released, to the pot

6. 6

   Add all of the other ingredients and simmer the mixture for 10-15 minutes

7. 7

   Use a hand blender to blend the soup until smooth. Or transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth (check if you can add hot liquids to your food processor first as you may need to let the soup cool a little first)

8. 8

   Serve immediately, or allow to cool and store in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months