Roast Mediterranean vegetable soup

Still recovering from my dental surgery, home-made soup seemed like a good option. The weather demanded something a bit summery, though - something with flavours of the Mediterranean.This soup almost tastes like sunshine.

It's easy to make, too, though not the quickest soup ever due to the fact that you have to roast the vegetables. Sliced courgettes, red peppers, onions and whole cloves of garlic were roasted until soft. Then all that remained was to blend them with some tinned tomatoes, herbs and seasoning. I kept it thick and substantial, but you could add more water if you prefer a thinner stock. It's so full of ripe summery flavours that you don't need stock - water will do fine.

Ingredients

2 red peppers
2 courgettes
2 onions, red or white
3 cloves garlic, skin left on
1 tin tomatoes (400g)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fresh basil, or 1/2 tsp dried oregano

Method

Heat the oven to gas mark 6 / 200C / 400F. Slice the courgettes about 1cm thick, chop the peppers roughly, and cut the onions into sixths or eights, but leave the garlic cloves whole. Put them in a baking tray (you may need more than one). Drizzle over the oil and stir so the oil is evenly spread around the vegetables.

Roast for about half an hour, or until the vegetables are soft. If they are browned in places, that's no bad thing. Put them in a blender along with the tin of tomatoes and the basil or oregano. Liquidise until smooth. Heat gently before serving. Some Italian bread such as ciabatta or focaccia on the side would do the job nicely.