… well I made it safely back to the cottage… it was touch and go at some points past Boston but Red Sonja did me proud… and it has well and truly snowed here… at least 2 feet on the ground… it looks so beautiful and in the words of Johnny Mathis ‘it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas‘…
… in my absence The Viking has not only cooked himself up a storm of delights… (it’s not that he can’t cook, it’s just that he can’t cook in my kitchen… geddit?) but he had also walked 6 miles to the nearest supermarket to stock up on supplies… so here I am, on the doorstep, bags laden with groceries and we’re all ready well stocked… so as well as the usual doubling up of everything, I now have a lot of tomatoes and rather a lot of sweet potatoes… a quick shifty through my current chef-love of the moment Nigel Slater, and a roasted tomato soup gave me inspiration.
Nigel uses red peppers in his and doesn’t add the spices either but I think the sweet potato adds a velvety texture and the spices add some depth and much needed warmth…
roast tomato and sweet potato soup
800g tomatoes (I used roughly 8 plum tomatoes)
1 large sweet potato
1 medium onion
6 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 1/2 pints veg stock
– cut all the veg up into wedges, sprinkle with the sugar, season and roast in the oven on 170 for 45 mins, turning frequently… you want to roast the veg and not burn them… the onion should caramelise slightly.
– after 45 mins tip the roasted veg into a pan with some butter and add the fennel seeds and garam masalla, let these roast for a minute or two before adding the stock.
– simmer the soup for 15 mins and then liquidize into a creamy, velvety soup
…I’m serving it simply here as I’m on this daft pre-Christmas diet but this would be lovely with a piece of hot melty cheese on toast floating on it… but then again, wouldn’t most things?…
… oh and don’t worry if you think i’m just eating soup… i’m not…
eat and of course, enjoy
i too have a chef-crush on Nigel. Wish I had his kitchen…and his garden! Love your tweeks to the recipe! yum yum!! 🙂
This looks great. I'm going to give it a try!
Yep I'm a Nigel fan too – although Yotam Ottolenghi runs him damn close…but I agree totally with Victoria re the garden and kitchen. Anyway – great soup Dom – I think I might adapt it to the butternut squash which keeps growling at me from the fruit bowl…
Love roasted tomato soup, I've never had it with the sweet potatoes – I'll bet it's yummy! I like some for dinner so I don't have to cook tonight! LOL!!! Yikes, I can't believe all the snow you have, I haven't seen a flake yet, and I live in the Northeast (knock on wood)in New England! The farmland in your photo looks beautiful, how nice of the Viking to walk 6 miles in all that snow! What a trooper! Happy to hear you made it back safely to the cottage also!
I'm jealous. I want all that snow and I also wish someone would make me a pot of soup. Seriously though the soup looks delicious.
Can't beat a bit of sir Nigel for inspiration! Soup sounds fantastic with all this snow, I'll be giving this a try ;0)
We've been reading about your snow! And, so far, we have very little of our own. Good! Your soup sounds perfect for a snowy afternoon's meal. I've never paired sweet potatoes with roasted tomatoes but why not?
Best,
Bonnie
Wow, lovely to see so much snow. We've still not had any in our part of Cornwall. Am well impressed with the Viking for his part in keeping a well stocked pantry. Soup sounds delicious. I keep eyeing Nigel's veg book up in the bookshop, it does look very tempting. Have just about managed to resist so far.
Glad you made it safe and sound.
Six miles through that snow – I wouldn't even walk two miles to our local shop – I was afraid of skidding cars (yea I am a big scardie cat!!)
Soup sounds perfect for this weather – warm, nourishing and tasty.
First of all… I'm a tad jealous of your snow … here in new England, there is not a flake to be had right now!
Second … this soup looks super! And, not to rub it in, but I don't give a rat's ass about pre-holiday diets, so I'll be lovin' your idea of the bread and cheese floating atop a cheery bowl!
Third … Bet your tree will be a stunner when you put it up … pictures, please!
I like the sound of the tomato and sweet potato combo for a soup!