Tomato and basil soup with garlic bread

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tomato and basil soup
Ingredients – serves 4
  • 1 whole head of garlic
  • vegetable or olive oil for drizzling and frying
  • 18 tomatoes, halved, with the cores removed
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 1 celery stick, finely chopped
  • 10 basil leaves, roughly chopped, plus extra for serving
  • 1 ltr vegetable stock (made from a stock cube)
  • 1 crusty baguette
  • salt and pepper
Method
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4.
  2. Start by chopping off the top of the garlic bulb and exposing all the cloves. Put it on a piece of foil, drizzle over some oil and sprinkle over some salt and pepper. Wrap the garlic up in the foil, place it in the centre of a baking tray and put it in the oven for 30 minutes.
  3. After 30 minutes, add the tomatoes to the baking tray, flesh side up, drizzle over some oil and add some salt and pepper. Put the baking tray back in the oven for a further 30 minutes.
  4. Remove the tray, unwrap the garlic. let it cool for a bit and squeeze the flesh from the cloves. You will be left with a mellow garlic paste.
  5. Put a frying pan on a medium heat, add a drop of oil and the onion, carrot and celery. be super patient with those veggies and let them soften and cook for at least 15 minutes.
  6. When they are soft, add half the garlic paste to the pan and mix it through. Add the tomatoes and basil and cover everything with the stock. Put the lid on and let it gently bubble away for 15 minutes
  7. Blend the soup to a consistency you like. You can use a handheld blender and blitz it in the pan, or you can transfer it to a food processor. When you are happy with the consistency (can be chunky or smooth!), taste, and add salt and pepper if needed.
  8. Make very simple garlic bread by cutting the baguette in half lengthways, toast the halves in a griddle pan and then spread on the remaining garlic paste over the cut sides.
  9. Serve the soup in a bowl with a couple of torn basil leaves, some black pepper and the garlic bread for dipping.

Recipe courtesy of Mitch Lane – ‘Feed your family for a fiver’ (image – canva photos)