Roasted Garlic & Tomato Soup

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg ripe tomatoes, halved
• 2 whole garlic bulbs, tops sliced off to expose cloves
• 2 large red onions, cut into wedges
• 2 red peppers, deseeded, quartered
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 600 ml hot vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• crusty sourdough bread, to serve
• extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle
• Natural yoghurt, to serve
• Fresh parsley, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C. Arrange the tomatoes cut-side up in a large roasting tin with the onion wedges, quartered peppers and chopped carrot. Tuck the garlic bulbs in among the veg, cut-side down — buried in the tray, the cloves go sweet and jammy rather than scorched. Don't let them sit exposed on top, or they'll burn and turn the whole soup bitter.
2. Drizzle everything with the olive oil. Scatter over the thyme, sugar, smoked paprika and a generous pinch of flaky salt — toasting the paprika dry on the tray with the oil and heat blooms it properly, so it tastes smoky and sweet rather than dusty. Roast for 45–50 minutes until the tomatoes are deeply caramelised at the edges, the peppers slumped and collapsing, and the garlic completely soft when pressed through the foil of its skin.
3. While the tray is in the oven, tip the rinsed red lentils into a small saucepan with 400 ml water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 18–20 minutes until they've collapsed into a loose porridge, topping up with a splash more water if they look dry. Season with a pinch of salt as they finish — lentils need it built in, not added at the end.
4. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their papery skins straight into a blender — they should slip out like soft butter. Add the roasted tomatoes, peppers, onions and carrot, scraping in every sticky pan juice (that's where the flavour lives). Tip in the cooked lentils and tomato puree, then pour in the hot vegetable stock — the stock breaks the roasted veg down into a proper silky soup rather than a thick paste.
5. Blend until very smooth, working in two batches if your jug is small. Hold the lid down with a folded tea towel and start on low — hot liquid in a sealed blender will lift the lid clean off if you go straight to high.
6. Pour into a saucepan and warm through gently for 4–5 minutes, stirring so it doesn't catch on the base. Taste, season, taste again — a pinch more sugar if the tomatoes need lifting, more salt to sharpen the edges. Adjust now, not at the table.
7. Ladle into warm bowls, finish each with a slow drizzle of extra virgin olive oil pooling on the surface, and serve with torn crusty bread alongside for dunking.