Roast Tomato & Basil Soup

Ingredients

• 1.2kg vine tomatoes, halved
• 2 red onions, quartered
• 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 800ml hot vegetable stock
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 15g fresh basil, leaves picked
• 1 ciabatta loaf, cubed for croutons
• 25g butter, melted
• Dressed rocket salad with shaved parmesan, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C). Tip the halved tomatoes, quartered onions, quartered pepper and unpeeled garlic cloves onto a large baking tray, drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic, and season generously with salt and pepper. Toss so everything is glossy, then spread out in a single layer — crowd the tray and they'll steam instead of catching.
2. Roast for 30–35 minutes until the tomatoes have collapsed with caramelised edges, the pepper is slumping, and the garlic skins are golden and soft to the squeeze. Keep an eye on the garlic in the last 10 minutes — you want pale gold and sweet, not dark and bitter. Burnt garlic will turn the whole soup acrid.
3. Squeeze the roasted garlic flesh out of its skins into a heavy pot and add the roasted vegetables along with any sticky juices from the tray — that's pure flavour. Pour in the tinned tomatoes, the rinsed red lentils and the hot vegetable stock. The stock is what breaks the tinned tomatoes down from tasting of metal into tasting of summer fruit, so don't skip it.
4. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 18–20 minutes, stirring now and then, until the lentils are completely soft and starting to disappear into the liquid. Stir in the tomato purée and caster sugar — the sugar isn't sweetness, it's there to round off the acidity of the tin.
5. Blend until very smooth with a stick blender, or in batches in a jug blender, then return to the pot. Simmer for another 2–3 minutes until glossy and silky. Taste, season, taste again — adjust the salt and pepper now, not at the table.
6. While the soup simmers, toss the ciabatta cubes with the melted butter and a pinch of salt, spread in a single layer on a tray, and bake for 8–10 minutes at 200°C until deeply golden and crisp right through. Soft in the middle means soggy in the bowl.
7. Tear most of the basil leaves and stir them through the hot soup off the heat — the residual warmth releases the oils without cooking the green out of them.
8. Ladle the soup into bowls, scatter over the reserved basil leaves, and pile the warm buttery croutons on top. Serve immediately, while the croutons still crackle.