Creamy Beany Tomato Soup
Creamy, high protein high fibre soup where the oven does most of the heaving lifting? Yes, please!
Perfect for cosy dinner, weekend lunch or popped into a flask and brought to work the next day. It may sound like an excessive amount of garlic but slow roasting the whole bulb makes it so sweet and mellow, that it really works! I suggest roasting an extra bulb and spreading it on toast to have on the side.
Adding beans makes this more of a balanced meal as it will bring protein, some carbohydrates and more fibre. Olive oil is a very healthy heart-friendly oil that works really well here because you can actually taste it drizzle on top. Olive oil increases the absorption of lycopene naturally found in tomatoes. Lycopene is a potent antioxidant, which helps reduce the damage to cells due to oxidative stress which may play a role in causing many chronic diseases.
Serves 4
Ingredients
500g fresh tomatoes – I like plum or baby plum tomatoes on the vine
2 big red peppers
1 Tbs Olive oil plus extra for serving
1 whole bulb of garlic
2 tins of butter beans/ cannelloni beans
250 – 350mml veg stock – you could you water in a pinch, and season with extra salt, pepper and maybe some dried herbs. To make the stock from a cube, use half a cube and store the rest in the fridge for the next time
A handful of fresh basil – parsley would work too.
Black pepper
Optional :
Garlic Toast – 1 extra whole bulb of garlic, bread, olive oil, salt and pepper
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
2. Slice the peppers into quarters. Carefully with a sharp knife, cut about 1cm off the top of the garlic bulb – cutting horizontally. If you are making the garlic toast do the same with the second bulb of garlic. See the picture for details!
3. Line a big roasting tray with tinfoil.
4. Put the tomatoes, sliced peppers and garlic bulb in the tray and drizzle with olive oil.
5. Roast for 40 minutes until cooked, the aim is to have the pepper well-cooked but not too charred.
6. Take the garlic out and leave to cool.
7. Pick up the edges of the tin foil and carefully pour everything else into a saucepan (Not on any heat). You want to keep as much of the juice from the roasted veg as possible!
8. Add the beans to the saucepan and stir to combine.
9. Once the garlic bulb is cool enough to handle carefully use a small sharp knife and pick the cooked cloves out of the bulb and into the saucepan. Some people like to just squeeze them out but I find that super messy and wasteful. Using a small knife allows you to pop the whole cloves out. Add the cloves to the pan. If making garlic bread do the same with the second bulb and put aside.
10. Add most of the basil leaves to the pan, and reserve a few for garnish.
11. Using a stick blender, blend until smooth. You could you a food processor instead, just transfer everything back to a pan to warm up.
12. Add the stock until you get your desired consistency. How much you use will also depend on how much juice comes out of the tomatoes. Mix well.
13. Pop the saucepan over a low heat and gently heat up. Serve in a bowl topped with a few extra basil leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.
14. For the garlic toast – toast your bread to your liking then drizzle a little olive oil over each slice, then smear 2—3 cloves across like butter! Season with salt and pepper and serve with a bowl of soup for dipping!
