Roasted tomato soup with bread rolls

One of my favourite soup recipes ever. Picked up a couple of years back from Gordon Ramsays understudy Angela Harnett, the soup is simple to make yet massive on flavour, accompanied by a soft, crusty roll it doesn't really get much better..

Serves 6-8

Roll's
450g Strong white bread flour, sieved
1 tsp Caster sugar
2 tsp Fine salt
7g Dried yeast
2 Tablespoon's olive oil
250ml Warm water

Soup

6-8 Large vine tomatoes
1 Large bulb of garlic, split horizontally
Small jar antipasti sun-dried tomatoes, drained of their oil
Handful fresh basil (stalks included) or 2 tsp dried
Handful fresh parsley, or 2 tsp dried
Few springs fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried
1 Large white onion, sliced
750ml Vegetable stock


1. For the rolls, mix the water and sugar together in a jug and add the yeast while stirring gently. Leave in a warm place for 10 minutes until a beige foam rises to the top. Set the oven to 220C.

2. Place the flour and salt into a bowl and mix well, make a well in the centre of the flour and gradually add the yeast mixture, mixing well with your hands this will form a dry dough. Once thoroughly combined, add the olive oil and turn the dough out onto a work surface. Add a sprinkling of flour if the dough is a little sticky but not too much as it will dry the dough out. Knead for around 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elasticated. Lightly oil the bottom of the bowl and place the dough back in to prove in a warm place, cover with lightly oiled clingfilm at the dough will double in size. Leave for around an hour.

3. Add all the Soup ingredients apart from the vegetable stock into a roasting tray and mix well with a pinch of salt and pepper, roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes turning the mixture every 10 mins to prevent burning. Once the tomatoes are blistered and the onions and garlic browned, remove and cover the tray with tin foil and leave for around an hour to marinade.

4. Once the dough has risen, divide into 8 small balls around the size of a tennis ball. Place on a lightly oiled tray and make two slits in the top of each ball. Cover with lightly greased cling film and set aside in a warm place for 45mins to rise. Once the dough is risen, remove the cling film and place the roll's in the oven for 15-20 minutes. The roll's should be golden brown with a hollow sound when tapped on the base. Place the roll's on a wire rack to cool.

5. Remove the tin foil from the tomato mixture, discard the vines and gently release the garlic cloves from their skins. Pour half the mixture into a blender with half the stock and blitz until smooth, pass through a sieve and into a clean pan, repeat this step with the second half of the mixture. If your soup is too thick simply add more stock to the blitzed mixture or a little water.

6. Heat through on a low heat until the soup is hot and serve with the bread rolls.