I had a kilo or so of cherry and other small tomatoes from the garden and the allotment and no room in the freezer to store them. So I chopped them all in half and popped them in the oven with a very little extra virgin rapeseed oil. I roasted them in a moderate oven until they smelled really tomatoey and were just starting to turn black on top. Then I put them in the blender and strained them through a fine mesh strainer for about an hour. Then, not needing a clear broth, I pushed all the remaining juices out with a stout spoon. I then added them to some chicken stock that I happened to have handy (though you could just as easily have used vegetable stock) and simmered to reduce just a very little. I served my roasted tomato soup with a hefty drizzle of double cream from the local dairy, and some cheesy garlic toast. To say that all it was was roasted tomatoes and chicken stock which i made just with the chicken carcass and nothing else, it was extremely delicious. No onions, no herbs, no flavours or seasoning. Pure tomatoey heaven.
Then the question arose. What did I do with this?
I took a hefty chunk and cut it into small pieces which I then roasted with some sliced red onion and a couple of garlic cloves. I put it all into the blender (I bought a blender after the food processor died; I can do most things by hand but mashing, mouli-ing and straining vegetables by hand doesn't appeal at all). I then thinned the result with more chicken stock and served it as soup with grated cheese. It too was very delicious.
While I was in the kitchen, I made lasagne sheets with my trusty rolling pin and made up a huge lasagne with beef and mushrooms and onions and garlic and marjoram and tomatoes and zucchini, moistened with tinned tomato juice and garnished with parmesan just before serving.
The end of August and beginning of September in Derbyshire is a wonderful time for domestic foodies!!
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