Roast tomato and basil soup

2nd January 2013

1.35 kg ripe, red, firm tomatoes
25 g fresh basil
3 fat cloves garlic, unpeeled
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for dipping
1 large potato, about 175 g
2 rounded teaspoons tomato purée
1 dessertspoon balsamic vinegar
salt & freshly milled black pepper

• Slice each tomato in half & arrange the halves on the baking tray, cut side uppermost. Add the garlic cloves, season with salt & pepper, sprinkle a few droplets of olive oil on each tomato half & top each one with a piece of basil leaf (dipping the leaf in oil first to give it a good coating).
• Roast the whole lot for 1 hour or until the edges of the tomatoes are slightly blackened.
• About 20 minutes before the end of the roasting time, peel & chop the potato, place it in a saucepan with some salt & 570 ml of boiling water. Add the tomato purée then simmer for about 20 minutes.
• When the tomatoes are ready, tip them & all their juices into a food processor.??Then add the contents of the potato saucepan and whiz everything to a thick purée, not too smooth.
• The soup is now ready for reheating – very gently.
• Just before serving the soup make the basil purée. Strip the leaves into a mortar, sprinkle them with half a teaspoon of salt, then bash the leaves down with the pestle. It takes a minute or two for the leaves to become a purée. Now add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the balsamic vinegar and stir well.
• To serve the soup, pour it into warm serving bowls and drizzle the basil purée on the surface.

Categories: Recipes