It’s been a busy week and the results are a bag of rapidly softening tomatoes in the larder, a handful of carrots in the fridge that are just about ok today, but won’t be tomorrow, and half a small pumpkin that’s beginning to resemble the picture of Dorian Gray.
Thankfully, today was also one of the first cool days in a while, cool enough to make a velvety smooth soup from the vegetables and roast the tomatoes in a house with no AC.
There’s a simple trick to getting maximum flavor out of a root vegetable or squash soup. Clean, peel and chop the vegetables into pieces not bigger than your thumb. Heat a knob of butter and a splash of olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan, ideally you use cast iron here, on a medium heat. Add the vegetables, swirl them to coat them in the hot fat, add a three fingered pinch of kosher salt, cover and lower the heat all the way down. Walk away.
If your heat is low enough, and your pot heavy, the vegetables will start gently roasting in their own juices. At no time should they brown or stick to the bottom of the pan, if that happens you’re using too much heat. Leave them, stirring occasionally, for between 20 and 30 minutes, by which time the flavours will have become beautifully concentrated.
Now add the stock of your choice. I used a light home made chicken stock from the freezer, and bring to a gentle simmer. A vegetable stock will work equally well here, as will some light miso, diluted to taste in hot water. Leave everything for another 20 minutes, then, when the vegetables are about to fall apart, puree in a blender. Adjust the seasoning to your taste, then finish with a generous dose of nutmeg for heaven in a bowl.
If you feel like it, omit the nutmeg and instead add a pinch of cumin, coriander and turmeric to the hot butter before adding the carrots and pumpkin for a gently curried version.
Come fall, half a stick of cinnamon will add warmth and depth. Or stir in a spoonful of Greek yoghurt and finish with a sprinkling of chopped chives for a fresher, more summery version.
For the roasted tomatoes, cut them in half and arrange on a heavy roasting tin, cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with kosher salt, smoked paprika and sumac. Both of the latter can be bought at the House of Spice in Kensington Market.
Get your oven to 450º and roast the tomatoes for between 30 and 45 minutes, until the skin starts blistering and the sweet smell of roasted tomatoes fills the house. Awesome.
Sprinkle a three fingered pinch of brown sugar over everything, a splash of good balsamic vinegar, then give it a good stir with a wooden spoon.
The resulting sauce works beautifully served with a robust pasta, but is also great cold on a good baguette with a chunk of strong cheese and a cold beer.
For a non vegetarian version, cube, fry and add some good cold smoked bacon, for some extra pizzazz throw in some chili flakes. The possibilities are endless.
On a hot day, you can also roast tomatoes on the BBQ, as shown in the quick and dirty iPhone video below.