Serves 4
1.2kg tomatoes
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tbsp rapeseed or sunflower oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
75g cashew nuts, plus a few extra, to finish (optional)
200ml light vegetable stock or water
Pinch of sugar (optional)
To finish
Extra virgin hempseed or rapeseed oil
A dusting of paprika (optional)
1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Cut the tomatoes in half and put them in a large roasting tray (they should fit fairly snugly). Scatter over the chopped garlic, trickle over the oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 minutes, then scatter the cashew nuts over the tomatoes. Return to the oven for a further 20 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and pulpy and perhaps a little charred in places.
2 Scrape the tomatoes, cashews and all the garlicky pan juices into a blender. Add the stock or water and blitz to a purée. Pass this through a sieve to remove any pips or stubborn bits of tomato skin.
Advertisement
3 When you’re ready to serve, reheat gently. Add some water if the soup seems very thick or the flavour is too intense. Season with more salt and pepper, if needed, and add a pinch of sugar if you think the tomatoey acidity needs tempering slightly.
4 Ladle into warmed bowls and finish with a swirl of extra virgin oil, a few chopped cashews, a dusting of paprika, if you like, and a generous sprinkling of pepper.
Recipe extracted from River Cottage Light & Easy: Healthy Recipes for Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, published by Bloomsbury on September 11 and available from the Times bookshop for £22.50 (RRP £25), free p&p, on 0845 2712134; timesbooks.co.uk