Waste Not Wednesday | Roasted Tomato Soup

This is a fabulously easy soup to make when you have too many tomatoes, your tomatoes have got a bit too squishy or you saw some in the reduced section in the supermarket but now don\’t know what to do with them.

It\’s gluten free, can be vegan and is freezable if you don\’t want to eat it immediately.

The quantities are very loose as they are determined by how many tomatoes you start with, so take this as a guideline and let your intuition guide you and your taste buds confirm it for you.

You can pimp it up with dried chilli flakes, smokey paprika or chorizo. Or you can make it as it is and enjoy as a light meal.

Ingredients

Tomatoes | washed and sliced in half. Choose overripe, over abundant tomatoes of all sizes.
Onions | peeled and thinly sliced. At least one large one, but the more tomatoes you have the more onion you need.
Garlic | unpeeled cloves, as many as you wish.
Oil or fat | olive oil, coconut oil, dripping from a roast, bacon fat - use whatever you have.
Stock | 1-2 litres of good quality vegetable stock. Amount is determined by the number of tomatoes and how thin you like your soup.
Mixed herbs | dried mixed herbs will do.
Salt & pepper | to taste
Balsamic vinegar | to taste
Bacon bits | any lonely rashers of bacon, half empty packed of lardons, bits of gammon or ham.

Method

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 180 C or 350 F.
Wash and halve the tomatoes and place cut side up in a large roasting pan.
Sprinkle the sliced onions over the top and add unpeeled garlic cloves.
Add the fat, if hard fat just dob it about. It it's oil drizzle over. Season with salt and pepper and give a bit of a mix.
Sprinkle over the mixed herbs.
Place a cooling rack over the top of the tray and place the bacon on top to let the fat drip through. Any other lardons and gammon can be put in the pan.
Place in the oven and cook until the tomatoes are pulpy and roasted looking, the onions are caramelised and the garlic easy enough to squeeze out of it's wrapper.
Remove meat to a side plate to cool. Add all the roasted vegetables (making sure garlic is now peeled) into a large saucepan.
Add upto 2 litres stock dependent on volume of veg. Bring to boil gently.
Remove from heat, add a generous dash of Balsamic vinegar and then whizz with a stick blender or food processor until smooth. Check the seasoning.
Can be served immediately with bacon croutons. Or left to cool and placed in the fridge for upto 5-6 days. Or frozen separately as soup and cooked bacon bits.