Serves 4 | Prep 5 mins | Cook 25 mins
300g onions, peeled and cut into large chunks
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
500g large ripe tomatoes, quartered
300g red peppers, deseeded and quartered
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary
about 1 litre boiling water or stock
6 slices of ciabatta or similar about 150g vegetarian goat’s cheese (the soft, loose sort)
Oven soup with chèvre crostini
1. Preheat the oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7.
2. Put the onions, garlic, tomatoes and peppers into one large or two smaller roasting trays. Shake the oil and vinegar in a screw-top jar and drizzle over the tray(s). Mix well with your hands as if dressing a salad. Season liberally with salt and pepper and scatter over the herbs. Roast for 25 minutes, shaking the pan from
time to time.
3. Prepare the crostini by toasting the bread briefl y and covering with the goat’s cheese.
4. When the tomato mixture is soft and nicely browned, scrape into a tureen. Put the crostini into the oven
in the roasting tin, to brown the cheese and crisp the toast.
5. Pick out the garlic from the tomato mixture, slip off the skins and return the cloves to the tureen. Blend until smooth with a hand blender, adding as much boiling water as needed to give the consistency of cream. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve with a hot crostini in each soup plate.