Roast Tomato Soup

Tomatoes are so expensive at the moment! However, I picked up a bag of cheap cooking tomatoes at the supermarket and then looked for a use for them. Its the middle of winter in Dunedin, so pretty chilly and the perfect time of year for soup. Cold weather + bag of tomatoes = Roast Tomato Soup.

This is a Gordon Ramsey recipe and it calls for fresh basil, but, being the middle of winter I didn't have any of that so I used dried and it still tasted great. Roasting the tomatoes really enhances their flavour and the sun dried tomatoes make this soup taste even better.
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
4 Tbsps Olive Oil
1 kg tomatoes
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves
2 tsps dried thyme
2 tsps dried basil
1 tsp caster sugar
1 litre vegetable stock
3 sundried tomatoes

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees C.
2. Place the oil in a large roasting dish and let it heat in the oven for a few minutes.
3. Chop the tomatoes in half and carefully tip the tomatoes, onion rings and garlic into the pan.
4. Toss to coat with the oil.
5. Sprinkle over the herbs and sugar and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until the mixture caramelises, stirring a few times during cooking.
6. Tip the contents of the roasting dish into a large saucepan.
7. Heat the stock and pour over the tomatoes.
8. Bring to the boil, add the sun dried tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.
9.Strain the stock into a bowl and place the tomato mixture into a blender.
10. Blend the tomato mixture until smooth, gradually adding the stock.
11. If you like a chunky soup, serve now. If you want a smooth soup, pass the soup through a sieve into a large bowl.
12. Season to taste