Soup of Roasted Summer Vegetables

A dish of roast vegetables turns up time and time again in my kitchen. It is useful to have around as a salad or a pasta sauce but if neither sauce nor salad fits the bill, then I use the melange of roast vegetables for a summer soup by Nigel Slater.

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 7  ounces red ripe tomatoes
• 1  medium onion, roughly chopped
• 2 -3  small carrots, sliced into short lengths
• 1  small fennel bulb, halved and sliced
• 2  large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 3  tablespoons olive oil
• 1  medium zucchini, thickly sliced
• 6  cups vegetable broth, hot
•  salt and pepper
• 2  bay leaves
• 3 1⁄2 ounces dried pasta shapes
• 2  tablespoons fresh basil, torn
•  extra virgin olive oil, to serve
• 1 1⁄2 ounces parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

1. Set the oven at 425°F
2. Remove the stalks from the tomatoes and discard them, then put the tomatoes in a roasting tin.
3. Peel and roughly chop the onion, then slice the carrots into short lengths, halve and slice the fennel and add all to the tomatoes.
4. Peel the garlic and slice it thinly, then toss it with the vegetables and the olive oil.
5. Roast for forty to forty-five minutes, until the vegetables are soft and pale gold.
6. Tip the vegetables into a deep saucepan, add the thickly sliced courgette and pour over the stock.
7. Season with salt, pepper and the bay leaves. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and leave to cook for twenty minutes.
8. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, salt it and add the pasta, letting it cook until it is tender but still has some bite - probably about nine minutes or so.
9. Grate the Parmesan, tear the basil into pieces. Check the seasoning of the soup, then stir in the cooked and drained pasta and half the basil.
10. Continue to simmer for five minutes or so.
11. Ladle into warm bowls, spoon over a little extra virgin olive oil, then scatter over the remaining basil and the grated Parmesan.