Looking for a simple soup to make for our Sunday evening meal, this was perfect. I used home canned/preserved Roma tomatoes from the larder, homemade chicken stock from the freezer, homegrown garlic and thyme, and pantry staples – onion, olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar. With homemade pesto and some sour cream in the fridge, I couldn’t help but gild the lily…
When writing up the recipe, I chose to change out the home canned/preserved tomatoes for what most have easy access to, that is store bought canned tomatoes.

- 2 x 400g cans of Roma tomatoes
- 1/2 red onion thinly sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic sliced
- sprig of thyme
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- Salt, pepper and sugar to season
- 250 ml chicken stock
- Sour cream or crème fraîche to finish
- Basil pesto to finish
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Preheat oven to 200˚C.
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Lightly grease a baking dish that is large enough to hold all ingredients.
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Place the tomatoes, onion, garlic and thyme into the baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season lightly with salt, pepper and sugar.
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Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
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Remove from the oven, add the chicken stock, and then return back to the oven for a further 20 minutes.
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When done, remove the sprig of thyme and carefully remove the leaves from the sprig adding them to the tomato mixture (it will be hot, but once removed cools quickly.
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Allow the tomato mixture to cool a little and then carefully pour it into a blender and process until smooth and creamy.
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Check seasoning, adjusting if necessary.
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Serve hot in individual bowls with a dollop each of sour cream and basil pesto.
If you do not have sour cream and/or basil pesto, a simple drizzle of extra virgin olive oil would also be the perfect finish for this delicious soup.