Roasted tomato, herb and pearl barley soup

(serves 4)
What to do with 1kg of extra tomatoes?! I haven't made tomato soup for ages, and thought since I have so many from the past weekend of crazy camp cooking, i'd put these juicy plump ones to good use! A bit of a variation from the previous soup i blogged a couple years ago, few more herbs and fresh parsley makes a huge difference! Also, to make the soup a bit more filling for these long winter days, i added some pearl barley in, which helped to thicken the soup and was quite tasty (and healthy?) actually!
Note: Without a stick blender it's rather inconvenient with the blending and sieving process so i highly recommend it!

Prep time: 30 min
Cooking time: 40 min

Ingredients: 
5 large tomatoes (800g)
1 brown onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp basil
2 tsp oregano
3-4 bay leaves
3 C vegetable stock
1 C water
2-3 tsp paprika
2 tsp sugar
2 T chopped parsley, fresh
1 C pearl barley
olive oil
salt and pepper
15-20g gruyere / parmesan 

Special equipment: stick blender

Method:
1. Cut the tomatoes in half and season with salt and pepper and grill for 20-25min until dehydrated.
2. Meanwhile, finely dice the onion.
3. Heat a large pot on medium heat, add in 1/2 T olive oil and add in 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp oregano, bay leaves, garlic and onion. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until onions are softened.
4. Add in the vegetable stock water, paprika and bring to the boil.
5. Add in the tomatoes and gently crush. Bring to the boil again then let it simmer for 10-15min. 
6. Cool then process with a stick blender. Drain through a sieve into a large bowl to get rid of the seeds. Wash the pot then pour the soup back in and bring to the boil. 
7. Add in the pearl barley, 1 tsp of basil and oregano and 1-2 tsp of sugar, then cook the barley for 15-20min until barley is al dente. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil.
8. To serve, garnish with parsley and shaved gruyere/parmesan. For an even tastier soup, place the bowls of soup under a hot grill for 5min until the cheese toasts!

0 comments :

Post a Comment