NORTHERN PLANNER

Since Andrea asked, this is the easiest of soups. Roasting everything first adds a depth of flavour.

You need:

10 decent sized tomatoes with the top sliced off

2 peeled red onions

A handful of fresh basil or 2 teaspoons of dried

2 cloves of garlic

Hot vegetable stock (the cubed stuff you get in supermarkets is fine)

Pre-heat your oven to 180%c.

Put all the vegetables in a roasting tray big enough so they all fit snugly, none piled on top of the other.

Drizzle well with olive oil, sprinkle on half the basil.

Put in the oven for 20 minutes, the shake the tray well, leave in for another 10 minutes – but take out if the tomatoes start to go black.

While everything is roasting, dilute your stock cube in hot water as directed by the packet, keep warm in  pan on the hob.

Put all the roasted veg in a blender, make sure you scrape the side of tray, those bits are full of taste.

Whiz the blender until smooth. Sprinkle in the restof the basil.

It's ready to serve – you MUST eat with good crusty bread.

Easy.