On the weekend my sister gave me an insane amount of fresh tomatoes from her friends garden:

I had no idea what to make with them do I looked to Jamie Oliver for some help with his cookbook:

I came up with Tomato Soup and Croutons along with Broccollini. I’ve never made this particular Tomato Soup before and I’m so glad I did. It was surprisingly sweet and delicious. And since the weather decided to be a fall day yesterday, soup was the perfect choice. And Broccolini? I have never made this before. Here’s today’s confession: I don’t really like eating broccolli raw. But steamed? I could eat a ton of it! While making my soup I came to realize that I was out of some ingredients, so I put my own spin on this one!
Here they are:

INGREDIENTS:
4 Large Tomatoes
2 1/4 lbs of Ripe Cherry Tomatoes On the Vine, Red and Yellow
(I just used more garden tomatoes- I had SO many!)
1 Fresh Red Chile
(I was out of Chile so this guy got omitted)
4 Cloves of Garlic
2 Small Red Onions
1/4 Cup of Balsamic Vinegar
A Small Bunch of Fresh Basil
(I used Bay leaves)
A few dollops of créme fraîche, to serve
(I did not add this one)
Sea Salt
Black Pepper


DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat your oven to 425°F
2. Pull the tomatoes off the vines, but leave some of their green tops on. Quarter the larger tomatoes, then put all the tomatoes into a roasting tray. Drizzle over a good lug of olive oil and season with sea salt and black pepper. 

4. Peel and roughly chop the onions and put them into the hot saucepan with a lug of olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Turn the heat up to medium and leave to soften, stirring occasionally. 
5. Stir in your balsamic vinegar into the onions and reduce the heat and let it cook. 
6. Take the tray of tomatoes out of the oven and add everything to the pan of onions. 
7. Instead of putting the ingredients into a liquidizer, I used my hand blender and put it into the pot until all my ingredients were a rustic consistency. 


(At this point, I let my soup stay warm in the pot while I made my broccolini)


8. Mix your soup and put your soup into their serving bowls adding one or two bay leaves (instead of basil) and some croutons for presentation. 


Jamie also has a recipe to make your own croutons but I didn’t have a ciabatta  loaf so, I was sneaky and found some seasoned croutons in my cupboard:

INGREDIENTS
1 lb of Broccoli
1/4 Red Onion
1 Garlic Clove
2 Small Tomatoes
1 Squeeze of Lemon


DIRECTIONS
1. Boil your broccoli in a small pan on high heat. 
2. In a small bowl, using a grader, grade your onion, garlic, and tomatoes.
3. Squeeze in your lemon and stir your mixture.
4. Once your broccoli is soft, strain out the water and put your broc into a serving dish and pour your tomato goodness on top.


And Bon Appetit, Friends!

What’s your favourite way to cook with tomatoes?! 


Are you a TO-mato or a TA-mato pronouncer? 
I’m 100% a tomato pronouncer! TA-mato always reminds me of the Full House episode where Uncle Jesse jumps out of a plane on his wedding day and ends up at a place where they start singing the tomato, tamato song. Just me?