Easy Roasted Tomato Soup With Cheesy Dippers

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Quarter the tomatoes and remove the core. Place the tomatoes on a roasting tray, skin side down so that they don’t get burnt. Add the onions and whole garlic and drizzle with generous glugs of olive oil and season with sea salt. Roast for 20-30 minutes until the tomatoes have softened, released their juices and are slightly caramelised. (If any skins have charred too much, simply peel them off and discard them.)

Carefully tip the tomatoes, onion and garlic and all the cooking juices into a blender or food processor and whizz until nice and smooth. Take care not to burn yourself or to overfill the blender.  Pour into a heavy-based pot over medium heat and add the prepared vegetable stock.  Season with salt and pepper and add sugar to taste just to balance the tartness of the tomatoes.  Simmer for 15 minutes. Garnish with basil just before serving.

Make the cheesy dippers while your soup is simmering.  Butter each slice of bread and place 4 slices, buttered side down on a bread board. Top each slice generously and evenly with grated cheese.  Top with the remaining 4 slices of bread, buttered side on the outside.  Heat the olive oil and butter in a heavy-based pan over low to medium heat and gently fry the sandwiches until the cheese has melted and the bread is deliciously golden brown on both sides. Slice into soldiers and serve immediately with the soup. Essential to dip the Cheesy Dippers in your soup! Trust us!