Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup

A week on from my last post and the scrummy leek and potato soup, it's still cold, wet and miserable in Manchester, so its time for another soup recipe.  This one is roasted pepper and tomato soup.  Its a great way to use up your left over tomatoes that you bought with all the good intentions of making a salad (who wants salad in January/February anyway!).  The recipe below makes enough soup for two and is 3 propoints per serving.  Use calorie controlled spray instead of olive oil if you want a soup with less points

You'll need the following:

• 1 sweet red pointed pepper
• 1 pack of cherry or plum tomatoes
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Tomato Ketchup
• 1 beef oxo cube
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried basil
• Salt and Pepper

Firstly cut the sweet pointed pepper in half and deseed.  Then cut each half into half again and put on baking tray.  Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees or gas mark 6.  Sprinkle some of the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and seasoning on top of the peppers and put in the oven to roast for around 15-20 minutes.  Set to one side to cool and then chop into little pieces

To the pan add the rest of the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, the crushed garlic, parsley, basil and some salt and pepper.  Chop your tomatoes into chunks and add to the pan along with the roasted peppers.  Add a dash of tomato ketchup and stir everything together so its coated in the olive oil and vinegar.

Simmer the tomatoes/peppers on a low heat for around 10-15 minutes until they are soft and the sauce has thickened.  A lot of people would take the skins off the tomatoes and peppers but I leave them on as I think it adds to the flavour...that and I just cant be bothered peeling the skins off them!

Add 1 beef oxo cube to 350ml of boiling water and stir until dissolved.  Add the stock to the pan and simmer for another 10 minutes. 

Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend until smooth.  Then return to the pan to warm through again.  Check for seasoning then serve with some nice crusty bread.