Slow roasted tomato and pepper soup

October has arrived bringing with it colder damp days (as opposed to the warm damp days that have made up the uk summer this year) and my thoughts turn to warm and comforting food - what can be more comforting that a hot bowl of home made soup - it's cheap, it's good for you and it tastes a million times better than the stuff you buy! It is also very easy to make and even if you think you can't cook you can make soup!

This one takes a bit of forward planning as you want to give the tomatos a chance to slow roast and develop their flavour but it is well worth the effort!

Serves 6 (large bowls)


Ingredients
15 Salad Tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 red pepper
2 carrots (grated)
1 large onion (diced)
clove of garlic (finely diced)
Chicken stock cube
1 1/2 litres hot water
1 tbs tomato ketup
1tbs clear runny honey


Halve the tomatoes and place in a large baking tray cut side up - season with salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 50C and place the tomatos in for a couple of hours - basically you are almost drying them out

Once the tomatos are soft remove them from the oven

In a large saucepan heat 1tsp of oil and add in the onion and garlic. Cook over a low heat until the onion is soft and clear.

Deseed the pepper and cut into chunks and add to the onion and garlic - fry over a low heat for 5 minutes until it starts to soften. Add in the roasted tomatoes, ketchup and honey and stir. Crumble the stock cube into the hot water and add.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes stiring occasionally.

Turn off the heat and blitz the soup until it is smooth

The pepper gives this tomato soup a very warming and sweet flavour - if you want it a bit hotter then add in a bit of chilli.  The finished soup has a sweet and sour edge to it - delicious with a chunk of crispy bread and perfect for a cold autumn day and at around 70 cal a bowl you can afford to have seconds!