I have been battling a cold for what seems like weeks now and I really wanted to get some quality vitamin C into me, so I turned to my age-old favourite of roasted tomato, pepper and chilli balsamic soup. Soup always comes to the rescue and when it had that amazing zing of chilli, it really gives me that boost that I need.
Oh yes, and it is a pretty good ‘sit down while it does its thing’ kind of meal too – so plenty of time to snuggle with the cats and watch something good on the TV or browse Pinterest for a while. (If you’re on Pinterest, come and find me!)
If you’re into your tomatoey soups, you might also like the chunkier hob version that I posted ages ago – check it out. I have been a fan of tomato soups ever since I used to have it almost daily with my childhood best friend Gemma when we were in playschool. Our Mum’s used to alternate who looked after us and it always included either tomato soup (straight from the can of course, it was the 80s after all) or spaghetti hoops on toast. Yum! I’m feeling all nostalgic now thinking about it!
I had quite a few tomatoes left over from the week before (having forgotten to add them to a meal, like a numpty!) so this was the perfect option to use them up and clear out the veggie basket. The great thing about a soup like this is that the veg don’t have to be brand new and crisp. Because you’re roasting and boiling them, they will get mushy anyway – so get clearing your kitchen and making a tasty soup! If you’re thinking that chucking anything and everything into a soup sounds a bit crazy, take a peek at my ‘Chuck it in’ Vegetable soup recipe to see that it really does work.
Because I had to run around here and there with the cats on Monday, I forgot to grab some bread to go with the soup. So in the usual super Sarah stylee, I rustled up an experimental double knead version of my Super Quick Bread. Of which I have to say was AMAZING!! (instructions to come shortly) …maybe it’s all my experimenting and not staying still that’s keeping me ill?
Ingredients:
800g tomatoes, large ones halved
2 large red peppers, roughly chopped into inch sized pieces
2 red chillies cut into chunks (put less if you don’t like it hot)
2 medium onions, cut into about 6 wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp (or a drizzle) of balsamic vinegar
500 ml vegetable stock
1 tsp ground garlic
A sprinkling of finely grated vegetarian cheddar (optional)
A sprinkle of dried basil (also optional, but pretty!)
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 C
In a roasting tin, add the tomatoes, peppers and onions and toss with the olive oil
Drizzle over the balsamic vinegar and pop into the oven for 30 minutes until nicely softened and aromatic
Pour the roasted vegetables into the stock pot and add the stock and 1 tsp crushed or ground garlic
Bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes
Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before blitzing with a stick blender
Return to the heat and warm through
Sprinkle with the grated cheese and dried basil and serve with bread
Of course I also have to show you a (slightly rubbish, but you get the idea) bread that we had to accompany it. I have been kind of obsessed about learning to make artisan bread since we bought some from a local market held in Royal Mills in Ancoats which was made as part of the Real Bread Campaign. This is one step closer, but I have so much more to learn!
I had my soup hot the next day for my leftover lunch, but because of the queues at work (cue cooler weather packed lunchers!) Jit had his cold. Which, to be honest was a bit of a bonus as he was able to tell me that it was delicious and would make a great summer gazpacho style soup too. Win! Two soups in one and full of healthy goodness too.
In case you’re wondering, we are done with visiting the vets for a bit now and I feel as though I might be on the mend – nothing my third walk to town won’t solve! I think I’ll stick to the healthy stuff this week, but all being well, I think a treat of some sort is on the cards fr next week’s meal plan.
Hoping the germs don’t catch you, but if they do get right on this soup!
What are your tips for getting over a nasty cold? Are you a fan of spicy soups?
Let me know in the comments below 🙂
- 800g tomatoes, large ones halved
- 2 large red peppers, roughly chopped into inch sized pieces
- 2 red chillies cut into chunks (put less if you don’t like it hot)
- 2 medium onions, cut into about 6 wedges
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp (or a drizzle) of balsamic vinegar
- 500 ml vegetable stock
- 1 tsp ground garlic
- A sprinkling of finely grated vegetarian cheddar (optional)
- A sprinkle of dried basil (also optional, but pretty!)
- Preheat the oven to 200 C
- In a roasting tin, add the tomatoes, peppers and onions and toss with the olive oil
- Drizzle over the balsamic vinegar and pop into the oven for 30 minutes until nicely softened and aromatic
- Pour the roasted vegetables into the stock pot and add the stock and 1 tsp crushed or ground garlic
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes
- Remove from the heat and let cool slightly before blitzing with a stick blender
- Return to the heat and warm through
- Sprinkle with the grated cheese and dried basil and serve with bread
4 comments
I am full of a cold too so this might just help clear my sinuses! It looks lovely, I am a massive fan of tomato soup.
Oh no! Not you too, Keeley! Get well soon from one sniffler to another. Tomato soup is great, isn’t it? And this one has just the right chilli kick (if I might say so myself) to get your sinuses going. Let me know what you think xx
I am only just getting over whatever bug I had. This looks like the perfect winter warmer, I’ll have to try it out 🙂
There have been some nasty lurgies going around by the sounds of things. Glad you’re on the mend though 🙂
Yes, do give it a go and let me know what you think! I hope you love it as much as we do 🙂 x