Sweet roasted tomatoes and deep spicy harissa paste, perfectly blended into a bowl of silky, comforting goodness. Vegan, GF & healthy.
Preheat the oven to 200°c fan assisted/220°c/450°f.
Spread the tomatoes out on a baking tray and drizzle with 1 tbsp of oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Pop the unpeeled cloves of garlic between them, then roast in the oven for 45 minutes, stirring once halfway through. Let the tomatoes cool a little before using your fingers to remove any overly charred pieces of skin.
In a large saucepan, heat the remaining oil over a medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and a pinch of salt. Fry gently for 8-10 minutes, or until very soft.
Remove the roasted cloves of garlic from the baking dish and use your fingers to squeeze the flesh out of the skin and into the saucepan. Then add the roasted tomatoes and any juice from the baking tray, harissa paste, honey/maple syrup and vegetable stock. Give everything a good stir and simmer for 5 minutes to warm everything through.
Transfer the soup into a food processor/blender and blitz until very smooth.
Return the soup to the heat. Season generously to taste, then warm until very hot. Divide between bowls and serve topped with a swirl of extra harissa paste and warm crusty bread.
This soup will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge and reheat over the stove until piping hot.
For an extra smooth soup, you can remove the skins from the roasted tomatoes before combining with the rest of the ingredients. If you have a really powerful blender you may not need to do this, but if using a stick blender, this is recommended.
Vegan: Use maple syrup rather than honey
Gluten-Free: Assure your vegetable stock is certified gluten free.
A few ingredient notes:
Recipe courtesy of georgieeats.co.uk