Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup

There is something incredibly comforting about a homemade tomato soup, and this version, with roasted tomatoes, really is a winner. Gorgeous in the summer with fresh, ripe tomatoes - in my case from my Dad's allotment, it's such a treat and so easy to make - it beats any shop-bought versions hands down.

Roasting the tomatoes, intensifies the flavour and gives that lovely, slightly charred, smoky element that makes for a delicious tasting bowl.

This is great for a family meal, with some hunks of fresh, crusty, buttered bread, or a simple light lunch alone too.

If you are watching your calorie or fat intake, simply omit from adding the crème fraiche or the Parmigiana shavings.

Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup



Here's how:

• 600g fresh tomatoes
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick celery
• 1 white onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• Pinch salt
• Pinch garlic salt
• Pinch black pepper
• Pinch sugar
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1.5 pints vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp. crème fraiche
• Handful basil leaves and stalks
• Handful Parmigiana shavings to scatter over the soup

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 180-200. Place the tomatoes into a baking dish. I used a mixture here and halved the larger ones, putting them skin side down. Drizzle over 2 tbsp. of olive oil - use a good quality if you have it, it will make a difference. Now scatter over the tomatoes the garlic salt, oregano, sugar and black pepper and place into the oven for about an hour, or until juice has been exuded from the tomatoes and they are slightly charred - but not blackened.

Tomatoes pre-roasting



Roasted tomatoes



In the meantime prepare the 'base' of the soup, by firstly peeling and dicing the onion and mincing the garlic. Peeling and chopping up the carrot into small pieces and slicing the celery. All of this can be added to a heavy-bottomed pan with a tablespoon more of olive oil and placed onto a low heat until all has been softened, about five minutes. Then turn off the heat and set aside until the tomatoes are roasted.


Place the tomatoes, and any escaping juice in the dish into the saucepan now, and make up the vegetable stock, then pour over. Place the basil stalks into the soup and season liberally with black pepper and sea salt. Now place back on the heat and cook for 30 minutes then remove from the heat and allow to cool

Blitz to a smooth texture and return to the heat. Just before serving add the crème fraiche and most of the basil leaves and stir through, and once dished up into soup bowls, add the shavings of cheese and a few extra basil leaves for garnish. Enjoy!

Some other soup recipes you may enjoy:


Asparagus and Crispy Bacon Soup
Red Pepper Soup
Vegetable Soup
Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup with Pak Choi Soup
Thai Sweet Potato Soup
Chunky Lentil Bacon and Kale Soup
Winter Vegetable Soup
Quick Pork Noodle Soup
Skinny Broccoli and Fennel Soup
Creamy Mushroom Soup without Cream

Walnut and Basil Pesto

This is a gorgeous pesto recipe (served here with penne and spinach leaves simply stirred through), it makes a good batch that works well with a heap of different meals and keeps for a good week in the fridge. It makes enough for at least five different meals, if not more.

I used walnuts once as I didn’t have any pine nuts in stock and this is now my go-to for pesto as I love the silky, almost creamy finish that walnuts afford.

This couldn’t be simpler to make and I have a few posts coming up that will demonstrate the versatility.

You can play around with the quantities too – this is a quicky that works for me, but you might prefer more garlic, basil or even oil for a thinner consistency.

Also when I’m making a batch for the baby to enjoy, I tend to use a Cheddar rather than Parmesan as it tends to have a slightly lower salt content and also it’s something I always have in stock.

Here’s how:

About 30-40g fresh basil – stalks as well as leaves
60g walnuts
2 cloves garlic
5 tbsp good quality olive oil
Pinch of salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

60g Parmesan or other hard cheese

Firstly peel and roughly chop the garlic. Roughly chop the walnuts too then add both to the blender. (You can use a pestle and mortar but I blitz it all together in my blender.)

Add the basil as is, the olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice and grate in the cheese.

Blitz together on a medium mode for 1 minute which should leave you with a smooth, creamy pesto. Taste and add seasoning to your preference – add more lemon if you prefer it slightly zingy.

To make the pictured dish – simply cook 75g penne per person to pack instructions. Before draining, retain 1 tablespoon of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and return to the pan on the lowest heat.

Add 1 tablespoon per person of the pesto and stir through thoroughly ensuring every piece is coated. Stir the spinach leaves through and serve immediately.

Tricolore Salad

There are many glorious salads that make summer eating so wonderful and the tricolore is an absolute classic. Named so after the triple colour or three coloured elements that make up both the Italian flag and of course the salad - it's simplicity doesn't take away from it's fresh, vibrant deliciousness. 

Again, this is hardly a recipe. merely a few ingredients thrown together to make up a big bowl of loveliness that can either make up a meal or act as a side with a versatile range of dishes. 

The one thing that I will advise on here is ensuring you buy the best possible quality ingredients to prepare this - with a dish so simple, there is nothing to hide behind so you don't want brown, bruised avocados or unripe tomatoes, everything needs to be just so. 

So to prepare a salad as a side for four, you need 3-4 decent sized and perfectly ripe tomatoes. Simply wash then slice and add to your salad bowl. Halve a large, ripe avocado and remove the stone, then using a teaspoon, scoop out curls of avocado flesh and add to the bowl. Pull or slice a ball of the best quality buffalo mozzarella and scatter around the salad. The final flourish is to add a generous handful of full basil leaves around the bowl and then to dress. 

Drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil, be generous as this really does aid the flavour with it's peppery tang. Finally, throw over some coarse sea salt a large pinch will do and some freshly ground black pepper and give a stir or a shake.