Roasted Tomato and Fennel Soup (v)

How do you make a great soup even better? Serve it with a loaf of molten cheesy garlic bread.

1 kilogram large ripe tomatoes, halved

1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, fronds reserved

1 red capsicum, seeded, thinly sliced

¼ cup each olive oil and balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, crushed ½ teaspoon chilli flakes sea salt and ground pepper 3 cups vegetable stock

Cheesy Garlic Bread (see recipe below), to serve

EQUIPMENT: Line a large, rimmed baking tray with baking paper.

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan bake.

Put the tomatoes, fennel, capsicum, oil, vinegar, garlic and chilli flakes in a large bowl and toss everything together. Season generously with salt and pepper. Tip onto the baking tray and turn the tomatoes cut side down.

Roast for 30 minutes until the tomatoes are collapsing. Pull the skins off the tomatoes and discard.

Tip the contents of the tray into a large saucepan and add the stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Blitz briefly with a hand blender, leaving half of it still chunky.

TO SERVE: Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with the fennel fronds. Serve with slices of cheesy garlic bread. SERVES 4