Roasted Tomato Soup

It's fair to say that anything roasted tastes 100x better. We used a nice mix of homegrown tomatoes but if you're buying from the supermarket we recommend cherry tomatoes or truss tomatoes as they are generally more sweeter. To balance the acidity of the tomatoes we added some brown sugar and also coconut cream. Best served with some crusty bread, make sure to give this flavour-some soup a try!

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Equipment needed: stick blender

Ingredients:

• 1 red onion, roughly chopped

• 4 cups cherry tomatoes or 8 large truss tomatoes, chopped in quarters

• 2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed

• 1 tsp dried fennel seeds

• 2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1 tsp sweet paprika

• 1 tsp brown sugar

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

• Extra virgin olive oil

• 2 cubes vegan chicken stock powder

• 1 cup coconut cream (or soy cream)

• a handful of fresh basil leaves

• Pepitas and balsamic vinegar (to garnish)

Method:

1. Start by pre-heating the oven to 200 degrees celcius

2. Add the chopped onion, garlic, tomatoes, brown sugar, paprika and herbs (except the basil) to a large roasting pan. Drizzle over a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper and mix with your hands. Once ingredients are combined, roast in the oven for 30 minutes or until caramelised.

3. Transfer the roasted tomatoes to large pot and cook for a further 5 minutes on a medium heat until the tomatoes break down.

4. Dissolve the chicken stock cubes in hot water and then add to the pot. Add the fresh basil leaves too. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Turn off the heat and use a stick blender to blend the soup. Once smooth, add the coconut cream and blend again until well combined. Taste the soup and season with more salt and pepper if needed.

6. Using a ladle, spoon the soup into a bowl and sprinkle some pepita seeds and drizzle over some balsamic vinegar (optional) and serve!