Roast tomato soup

Method

No stock is required because roasting concentrates the flavour of the vegetables.

1 Heat the oven to 240°C (220°C fan oven) gas mark 7.

2 Arrange the tomatoes and onions inside a couple of fairly large roasting dishes in a single layer, then drizzle over 5 tablespoons of oil and roast for 20 minutes. Once they are cool enough to handle, pinch the tomatoes off the vines using a fork, and tip into a liquidiser with the onions and roasting juices. Add a good dose of salt along with some celery salt, some black pepper, the sugar and another 5 tablespoons of oil, and liquidise. Pass through a sieve into a saucepan.

3 Scatter the diced bread over the base of a roasting tray, drizzle over a little olive oil and toss with your hands to coat the pieces lightly. Scatter over a little oregano and toast in the oven for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden. Both the soup and croutons can be made well in advance.

4 Gently reheat the soup and serve in mugs with a drizzle of oil and some croutons.