Roasted garlic and tomato soup with cheddar cheese & caramelised onion toastie
#cookwitholiveoil 11.
Recipe by Naomi Simons
Video instructions here
Naomi writes:
"A delicious soup using Honest Toils extra virgin olive oil, a zippy fragrant evoo pressed solely from small batches of hand picked Koroneiki Olives in Greece. This evoo is one of the best I’ve ever tired and adore the packaging and ethos of the brand. I love that the brand is promoting using evoo in cooking and trying to break the stigma of evoo not having a high smoking point. Here’s a recipe to showcase that and a few interesting facts below!
- Evoo has a smoke point of around 207°C, which is higher than the typical deep frying temperature.
-There are 36 known polyphenols in extra virgin olive oil, compared to coconut oil for example that only has six.
-One of these polyphenols is oleocanthal which exists naturally in olives and is a well known anti-inflammatory.
-Honest Toils EVOO has an acidity of 0.3% which means it’s one of the purest EVOOs available. Small batch evoo is best!"
Recipe (Serves 4)
Ingredients:
For the soup:
1 whole bulb of garlic
1 1/2 tbsp Honest Toil extra virgin olive oil
1 large white onion, finely diced
2 celery sticks, finely diced
1tbsp tomato paste
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1tsp white sugar
Small bunch of thyme, tied
200ml whole milk
For the toastie:
2tbsp Honest Toil extra virgin olive oil
2 red onions, halved and sliced
1tsp balsamic vinegar
20g butter
8 slices of sourdough
1tbsp dijon mustard
100g cheddar cheese, grated
Method:
Start by wrapping the bulb of garlic in greaseproof paper or foil and put onto a baking sheet in the oven for around 30 minutes at 200°C.
Next get going on the toastie by adding 1tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil to a frying pan over a low-medium heat. Add the sliced red onions and the balsamic vinegar and stir every so often for about 15 mins until the onions have sweated down and have started to caramelise. Take of the heat and leave aside while making the soup.
To make the soup start by adding the 1 1/2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil to a large, deep heavy bottom pan and setting over a low-medium heat. Add the onions and celery and slowly fry for around 15 minutes until softened. Next add in the tomato paste and stir for another couple of minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes, white sugar and thyme. Turn up the heat to medium and let this simmer for around 15-20 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, make the toastie by buttering both sides of sourdough slices. With four of these slices add a brush of mustard to each, a quarter of the caramelised onions and a quarter of the grated cheddar and top with the other plain buttered slices of sourdough.
Set a large frying pan over a medium heat and add in the other tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Carefully place the prepared toasties into the pan and fry for a few minutes on each side until golden brown and the cheese has melted- use something heavy to press them down whilst they’re cooking. You can then keep these warm in a low oven while making the others.
To finish the soup, take out the bunch of thyme, squeeze the roasted bulb of garlic flesh into the soup and add the whole milk. Season well, stir, and then blend until smooth.
Serve into soup bowls, drizzled with honest toils extra virgin olive oil and the toasties on the side for mopping. Enjoy!
