As summer  sizzles its way through  Sydney (Australia), so does the abundance of produce that is available at the local markets. I am impressed and sometimes over whelmed by the beauty and splendor that is on offer at local  markets and especially LOVE summer for its colourful and juicy bounty.

On one such market expedition with my tongue protruding and my tastebuds salivating,  I thought all my christmases had come at once when I came across a box full of scarlet red plum tomatoes for $6.99.

How could I  turn down such a bargain ?

My head was reeling with all the wonderful recipe possibilites that tempted and taunted me when deciding what to do with this ripe summer harvest. Fresh homemade tomato sauce? chunky tomato chutney? or perhaps, delightful jars of olive oil packed semi dried tomatoes?

My heart though eventually went with a recipe I started making a few years ago whilst working for the lovely Bill Granger. His dear friend Skye Gyngell from Petersham Nurseries in London had given him a recipe for Tomato chilli jam which I have adjusted slightly making this recipe literally worth breaking the law for.

It’s sweet and sour, salty and spicy and perfectly balanced. It is versatile in its applications where you can have it as a dip, try it with some pungent cheese, devour it as a pasta sauce or crave it on a side of toasted sourdough bread with fresh ricotta and mint leaves.

Either way, it’s a must try when tomatoes and summer are ripe for the picking.

Ingredients:

Makes enough for 6 large jars

4kg of plum tomatoes

4 Tbs yellow mustard seeds

350mls red wine vinegar

150gms of fresh ginger ~peeled and grated

14 cloves of garlic ~peeled and crushed

10 red chillies ~ deseeded and finely chopped. Choose your chillies by order of heat – the hotter you like them the smaller the chillies

300gms of palm sugar

8 Tbs of fish sauce

6 tsp cumin powder

6 tsp garam masala

6 tsp cumin seeds

6 Tbs brown sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Methodology:

Preheat the oven to 200C on Bake

Remove the edible core from all the tomatoes using a sharp knife and discard the unwanted cores.

Slice the tomatoes in half length-ways and lay them into a couple of roasting trays, flesh side facing towards you.

Drizzle with olive oil, cumin powder and garam masala. Sprinkle over the brown sugar and cumin seeds and seasonwell with salt and pepper.

Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to caramelise and brown  nicely.

Toast the mustard seeds in a dry pan until they go ‘POP’, then grind to a fine powder with a mortar and pestle.

Into a large pot add all the ingredients including the roasted tomatoes and cook on the lowset heat possible for 2-3 hours until the mixture is sticky and jam like in consistency.

Make sure you stir frequently to prevent the JAM from sticking to the base of the pot.

Spoon while hot into sterilised jars and and seal and store in the fridge for up to 1 month.

photo by adactio

Soup shouldn’t be a challenge.

Whether your slurping it down or  chopping and preparing,  soup creation and consumption should be a pleasurable experience-  liquid comfort.

Nothing could be more comforting than a freshly prepared tomato soup that takes you no longer than 5 minutes of effortless slicing with a bit of sprinkling thrown in for good measure, and this could well be the easiest soup recipe ever.

It’s so easy that I have tweeted it a couple of times as a twecipe ( whole recipe in under 140 charachters on twitter) when asked by fellow twitters for a soup recipe suggstion –>

R0asT Tom SouP: slice 20 toms in 1/2, sprinkle w brn sugr, cumin, s.salt +blk pepp + EVOO. Roast oven 200c 4 45mins. puree all. season+serve

But due to my love and adoration for the written word as well as the tweeted verse, I thought an entire blog post would be a fitting tribute to the worlds easiest soup recipe.

“Soup is cuisine’s kindest course.  It breathes reassurance; it steams consolation; after a weary day it promotes sociability, as the five o’clock cup of tea or the cocktail hour.”
Louis P. De Gouy, The Soup Book (1949)

photo by BinaryApe

Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

Approach this recipe with complete abandon as it will reward you with its sweet warm gesture upon its simple completion.

The hardest part of this recipe is gathering the ingredients to make it… unless you are blessed with your own beautiful garden bursting and waiting for you to begin the harvest.

For those of us less fortunate (inner city living certainly has its drawbacks) I suggest you pay a visit to your local green grocer and insist on the  freshest, organic, ripe and tempting tomatoes to make this recipe a true success. Roma tomatoes are the best type of tomatoes for this recipe as they are low in Acid so will produce a sweeter soup.

Gather together 20 medium sized Roma tomatoes, as described previously and slice them in half. Place them flesh side up in a deep roasting tray.

photo by missy & the universe

Sprinkle the tomatoes with natural sea salt flakes, a generous grinding of black pepper, 2 tablespoons of  brown sugar, 3 teaspoons of ground cumin, 3 teaspoons of garam masala, 1 teaspoon each of cumin, fennel and coriander seeds.

Add a good slosh of extra virgin olive oil and roast in a medium to hot oven (190c) for 45 minutes until nicely caramelized and looking delectable!

Remove from the oven and puree all, including any delicious juices that have accumulated during the cooking process.

Taste for flavour- season if necessary and serve piping hot and comforting. serves 3-4

And too make it even more exciting, this tomato soup is a great base to add one of  the following ingredients to enhance the profile of the dish.

Tomato soup with creme fraiche- add a dollop just before serving and swirl it in

Tomato soup with fresh spinach- Before serving the soup into bowls, place in a small handful of spinach leaves and ladle the hot soup straight on top

Tomato soup with black olive tapenade- This sweet tomato soup is complemented very nicely with a dollop of olive tapenade

Tomato soup with prawns- Saute a few prawn cutlets before adding to the steaming soup

Tomato soup with a cherry tomato balsamic salad- Make a mini salad out of diced cherry tomatoes completed with some shredded basil and a balsamic vinaigrette

Tomato soup with roasted fennel- At the same time your roasting the tomatoes, roast some slices of fennel bulb until well caramelised and then chop and add to the finished soup

Tomato soup with a fresh herb salad- Top your bowl of hot soup with a selection of your favourite herbs picked into a salad. My recommendations would be mint, basil and coriander.

Tomato soup with a chili yogurt- Make a dollopable addition out of Greek style yogurt, a sprinkling of sumac and some finely chopped fresh chili