Roasted Tomato and Sweet Potato Soup

No photo for this, unfortunately. It's one that I started as I prepared breakfast at 6.30am, then left on the hob for the children to have for their dinner, with sandwiches. It has a lovely sweet, but tangy taste, and can be made more substantial with the addition of red lentils.

Ingredients

• 3-4 ripe tomatoes, sliced in half
• A few pinches of dried, mixed Italian herbs (oregano, thyme, marjoram etc.)
• Olive oil to drizzle
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2 cm chunks
• (Optional) 2 tablespoons of red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 350ml chicken or vegetable stock (I use Kallo organic chicken stock cubes)
• 1/2 an onion, sliced
• 1 small potato, roughly diced
• 25g butter
• Salt and ground black pepper
• (Optional) spoonful of creme fraiche

Serves 3-4

Instructions

• Place the tomatoes onto a baking tray, cut side up. Grind a twist of salt, pepper and a sprinkle of dried herbs onto each one, and drizzle with a little olive oil. Place in the oven at 185 degrees for 35 minutes
• Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan and add the onions, potato and sweet potato. Stir for 5 minutes until the onion is softened
• Add the tomatoes and all the baking tray juices (and optional the red lentils), and heat until bubbling
• Add the chicken stock, so that the vegetables are just covered. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a gentle boil, cover the pan and leave for 30 minutes
• Once the cooking is finished, blend to a smooth consistency, and swirl in the creme fraiche, if desired
• Serve with thick, buttered toast - even better if there are poppy or sesame seeds involved