If you love soups and intense flavours, this is the ultimate soup. It is a soup made by roasting ripe sweet tomatoes with garlic, thyme and olive oil. The resulting puree from this roasting is absolutely delicious and intense.
If you want, you can keep it and use it as a seasoning for roasts or to accompany any pasta, or you can use it for a simmered simmer like we did today, to obtain a unique soup.
The truth is that at home it never lasts very long, I've already said it all!
INGREDIENTS
For the soup:
- 2.5kg ripe tomatoes of various types, halved
- Half a bunch of thyme
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pesto:
- 30g sunflower seeds
- 1 small clove of garlic
- 75g cheddar cheese or aged goat cheese, finely grated
- A good pinch of sea salt
- 1 large handful of basil
- 100ml extra virgin olive oil
For the mackerel:
- 2 medium-sized fresh mackerels, filleted
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 fresh bay leaf, split
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 2 sprigs of thyme
PREPARATION
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Place the tomato halves (you can quarter any that are very large) face up on a baking tray large enough to fit them all in a single layer. Scatter over the thyme stems and chopped garlic, then drizzle with the oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Place the tray in the oven and roast the tomatoes for 45-60 minutes, or until they begin to wrinkle around the edges and are about to sink.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Using a rolling pin or a colander, crush the tomatoes against a colander, extracting all of their dense, aromatic juice.
- Discard any remaining skin and seeds. Pour the tomato juice into the cocotte and bring to a boil. You can adjust the balance of sweetness and acidity with a little cider vinegar or a pinch of sugar. Either way, taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. If the soup is thin, you can boil it a little longer to reduce and thicken it.
- Meanwhile, prepare the pesto. Place a dry frying pan over a low to medium heat. Add the sunflower seeds and cook, stirring regularly, for a few minutes until the seeds are toasted and fragrant. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- Put the cooled, toasted sunflower seeds into afood processor or chopper along with the garlic, cheese and salt and chop until fairly fine. Add the basil and continue chopping until fine, then gradually add the oil. When everything is mixed into a smooth, even texture, season with salt and pepper to taste and pour the pesto into a bowl.
- When you're ready to serve the soup, you can cook the fish. Reheat the nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the olive oil, bay leaf, thyme and crushed garlic clove – two flavours that work wonderfully when cooking with mackerel.
- Cut the fillets in half, which will make eight small pieces. Lightly season the mackerel with salt and pepper and place the pieces skin side down in the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the fillets are almost cooked through, then flip and turn off the heat. The fillets will finish cooking with the residual heat from the pan.
- Using a ladle, serve the soup in four wide bowls or tureens . Add two pieces of fish to each bowl and drizzle the pesto over the top.
- Finish with a drizzle of your best olive oil, a grind of black pepper and a handful of basil leaves, if you have any left.
Le Creuset non-stick frying pan
Grades
- Mackerel is a tasty, oily fish with an incredible flavour. It is important that it is fresh on the day. Look for fish with firm, bright eyes at the market and you will not be disappointed.
- I like to use sunflower seeds instead of pine nuts for pesto because I love the flavor they leave. Hazelnuts and walnuts work well too.
- You can replace the mackerel with any fish you like. Perhaps you prefer pan-seared scallops, or if fish isn't your thing, you could also try caramelized fennel or even a nice helping of rich roasted zucchini.
