Rustic Tomato Soup
The soup of the moment! Right now tomatoes are ripening rapidly, their flavor is concentrating and it's so easy to make a good soup from them... Credit for this recipe goes to Jose Pizarro.
Ingredients
2 kg ripe tomatoes
5 very large garlic cloves (or 1 small head of garlic)
1 small onion
2 generous sprigs of fresh thyme
6-7 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
semi-hard sheep cheese (like Manchego, Graviera or similar)
jamón-infused oil (or slices of jamón)
salt, black pepper
Servings: 4
How to prepare rustic tomato soup
- Cut the tomatoes in half, clean the stem area and arrange them in the oven tray cut side up. Sprinkle generously with salt and place the peeled but whole garlic cloves among the tomatoes. Drizzle everything with 5 tablespoons of oil.
- Roast the tomatoes at 160°C (320°F) for 1 hour. During this time they will soften, lightly brown on the edges and release juice into the tray.
- Let the tomatoes cool slightly, then remove the skin. It will come off easily. With a fork, mash the contents of the tray (roasted tomatoes and garlic) which will mix with the juice in the tray.
- In a pot, add 1-2 tablespoons of oil and sauté the diced onion until softened.
- Add all the contents from the tomato tray and top up with 300ml water (or chicken broth, Jose says). Add the whole thyme sprigs to the soup. Simmer everything for 10-15 minutes, tasting for salt towards the end.
- Let it cool slightly. Portion the soup into bowls, add paper-thin slices of sheep cheese and drizzle with 1 teaspoon of jamón-infused oil each. Grind some black pepper and if desired, garnish with thyme leaves. Serve with toasted bread topped with jamón slices if you don't have jamón oil. However, when you get to Spain and see this oil, don't miss it! 😉
* if you want the soup to remain lacto-vegetarian, instead of jamón oil you can experiment with other infused oils (spicy, basil, lemon... or avocado oil, pistachio oil...). - It's also good reheated.
