Tomato soup - a trip down memory lane

If you are older than 45 (eek), your tomato soup memories may resemble mine. We only ever ate Cream of Tomato soup if going to a hotel for a rare meal out. (Usually called "The Royal Hotel"!) Option B was soup in  a can. Surprisingly I grew up loving tomato soup, ignorance was obviously bliss in this case.
At last I decided to call back the past,but oh dear. Canned tomato soup is truly gross and some homemade attempts weren't much better. This version where you roast the vegetables makes everything taste sweet and delicious. Tomorrow I will post a home made sour dough bread that goes perfectly with the soup. Yum

                                                  Tomato Soup         

Serves 6 hungry adults, along with lovely fresh bread

8-10 tomatoes, halved

2 red peppers, halved and seeded 

4 red onions, quartered

1 Brinjal, halved (optional, adds to the creaminess of the soup)

6 cloves garlic 

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper 

Thyme sprigs/thyme leaves

750ml vegetable stock

Fresh basil, chopped

Preheat oven to 160˚C. Place tomatoes, cut side up, in roasting pan along with remaining vegetables. Sprinkle balsamic vinegar and olive oil over, season. Put a few thyme sprigs on top and roast 1 hour or till all vegetables are lovely and tender and juicy. Pull skins off tomatoes and peppers, scoop flesh out of brinjal; squeeze garlic out of skin. Place all in blender, add some stock and blend till smooth. Add remaining stock, bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

To serve sprinkle with some freshly chopped basil, or a dollop of fresh basil pesto and/or a spoonful of cream.