Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup with Basil Oil

Ingredients

• 400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 red peppers, halved and deseeded
• 800g vine tomatoes, halved
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 red onions, cut into wedges
• 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 700ml hot vegetable stock
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small garlic clove, roughly chopped
• 80ml extra virgin olive oil
• 30g fresh basil, leaves picked
• ½ lemon, juice only
• 4 thick slices sourdough bread, toasted, to serve
• 4 tbsp natural yoghurt, to serve
• 30g pine nuts, toasted in a dry pan, to serve
• a few fresh basil leaves, to finish
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C fan. Arrange the red pepper halves cut-side down (the skins blister faster against the hot tray), tomatoes cut-side up, red onion wedges, chopped carrot and the unpeeled garlic cloves across a large roasting tray. Leaving the garlic in its skin protects it from scorching at this heat — naked cloves at 220°C turn bitter fast, and burnt garlic taints the whole pot.
2. Drizzle with 3 tbsp of the olive oil, scatter over the smoked paprika and chilli flakes, and season generously with salt and pepper — this is your first proper salt moment, so don't be shy. Roast for 30–35 minutes until the peppers are blackened and collapsing, the tomatoes deeply caramelised at the edges, and the kitchen smells sweet and smoky. Bloomed in the roasting oil, the paprika tastes of itself; raw it tastes dusty.
3. Meanwhile, tip the red lentils into a small saucepan with 300ml water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 18–20 minutes until completely soft and broken down — they should collapse when you press one against the side of the pan. Drain off any excess liquid.
4. While everything roasts and simmers, make the basil oil. Blitz the basil leaves, olive oil, garlic and lemon juice in a small blender or with a stick blender until vivid green and smooth, 20–30 seconds. Season with a pinch of salt and set aside — the lemon juice both seasons it and locks the colour in.
5. Once the vegetables are out of the oven, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves from their papery skins straight into the tray. They should slip out as soft, sweet, pale gold paste — that's the texture you want; if any clove is dark brown inside, leave it behind.
6. Tip the roasted vegetables with every last sticky juice into a large saucepan. Add the cooked lentils, tomato purée and the hot vegetable stock — the stock is what breaks the tomatoes down properly, so don't skimp. Blitz with a stick blender for 2–3 minutes until completely smooth and glossy.
7. Stir in the drained cannellini beans and simmer over a medium heat for 5 minutes until the beans are warmed through and the soup coats the back of a spoon. Taste, season, taste again — a good pinch more salt almost always wakes it up, and adjust now, not at the table.
8. Ladle into warm bowls. Spoon over the yoghurt, drizzle generously with the basil oil so it pools and bleeds into the red, scatter the toasted pine nuts and the torn basil leaves, and finish each bowl with a squeeze of lemon. Serve with the toasted sourdough alongside for dragging through.