Smoky Tomato Soup with Parmesan Shards
Ingredients
Soup:
600g tomatoes, halved
1 red capsicum, deseeded and cut into quarters
2 medium onions, peeled and cut into quarters
1 garlic bulb, cut in half horizontally
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups of brewed and strained lapsang souchong tea (made with 2 heaped teaspoons of dry tea leaf)
1 cup vegetable stock
¼ cup tomato paste
1 tsp sea salt
Pinch of chilli
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp brown sugar (optional)
1 tsp red wine vinegar (optional)
Cracked black pepper, to season
Smoky Parmesan Shards:
½ cup freshly grated parmesan
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp smoky paprika
Method
Soup:
Preheat oven to 180˚C. In a large oven dish, place tomatoes, red capsicum, onions, garlic bulb and the oil. Mix around to coat veggies in the oil. Roast for 30 - 40 minutes. Remove from oven and spoon roasted veggies into a soup pot, along with any roasting liquid.
Prepare 2 cups of lapsang souchong tea and separate the brewed liquor from the leaf.
Pour the tea liquor into the soup pot with the roasted veggies then add all the remaining soup ingredients. Bring to a low simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent anything sticking to the bottom of the pot. Remove from heat and blend until smooth. Serve with smoky parmesan shards.
Smoky Parmesan Shards:
While soup is simmering keep oven at 180˚C and line baking tray with baking paper.
Into a bowl finely grate 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Add the thyme and smoky paprika to this and gently combine. Sprinkle cheese mixture in a thin layer onto your baking paper. You can either make circular shapes or make one big layer to break up later.
Bake in the oven for 3 - 5 minutes until the cheese melts and just starts to turn a golden colour. Remove from oven and let
cool before removing from baking paper. Break into the desired shape once cool.
