Every body loves a fresh and delicious Caprese salad. Everyone except me. It’s no secret that I am not a fan of the common tomato. I've tried but my taste buds simply do not agree. I recall being a young girl and my father even offering me money to eat a slice. Needless to say he kept his money and his tomatoes. Now that I am older I often wonder what it would be like to snack of cherry tomatoes. They seem like the perfect treat and they are so healthy. Unfortunately they along with many other tomatoes simply do not go down well. Then I discovered this soup. It’s simple, cheap and cheerful but bursting with flavour. It’s bold and sweet all at the same time! Its a winter warmer that I really recommend. On this day I decided to share the recipe with a good friend of mine who happens to be a health coach. I was rather proud when Nikita from Zesty Mannequin gave it the seal of approval on not only being simply delicious but also a winner in the eating healthy department. I have put a slight twist on the soup serving it with a pesto mozzarella toasties. These flavours sing of a warm Caprese salad and the twist allow me to enjoy the flavours I lose out on with the cold fresh version.
serves: 4
ingredients:
- 12 large tomatoes
- 2 red onions
- 1 garlic bulb
- 4 twigs of rosemary
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- olive oil
- mozzarella
- pesto
- slices of your bread of choice-mine is brown seeded loaf
instructions:
Preheat your oven to 170°c
Give your tomatoes a good wash and place them into your roasting tray. Remove the rosemary from the twigs and put it in with the tomatoes.
Peel and slice your onions in half. Place them in the roasting tray with the rest of the ingredients. Pour your olive oil over all the ingredients and mix it together with your hands, making sure everything is covered in oil before roasting.
Sprinkle your sugar over all the ingredients, cover the tray with foil and pop the roasting tray into the oven for 40 minutes or until the onions and tomatoes and soft.
In the mean time we can get cracking on the pesto and mozzarella toasties.
Place your bread on a roasting tray and drizzle olive oil over your slices. we are going to toast the bread in the oven.
When the tomatoes are ready take them out of the oven and pop your bread in. your bread will only need 1-2 minutes each side until its golden brown and just toasted.
While they are toasting take all your ingredients and put them in a blender. Yes its that simple! Make sure you don't leave any juices behind!
Blend it all up until it becomes a delicious thick tomato soup. Add the soup to a pot and put it on a low heat. i usually add two to three cups of water at the stage and salt and pepper to taste.
Don’t forget to keep checking up on your toasties. Once they are golden brown, slice your mozzarella and place it onto the toast. Put your oven onto grill and put them under the grill for 4 minutes or until the cheese has melted to your satisfaction. Once out of the oven smear the pesto onto the cheese and slice into soldiers.
While you are busy with this your soup should be blipping away over the heat.
Serve your soup with your toasties-nice and hot and ready to delight!
-Melissa