Roasted tomato soup with sage, shallot and rosemary focaccia bread

Focaccia ingredients: 

1 KG plain flour
640 ml water
100 ml of olive oil
20 grams of natural yeast
20 grams of sea salt

1. To begin in a large mixing bowl, pour your water, olive oil and natural yeast into the base of the bowl.
2. Either using a wooden spoon (or your hands), lightly stir to incorporate the water, oil and yeast together.
3. Next add your 1Kg of plain bread flour and lastly your sea salt.
4. Mix using a bread mixer or with just your hands until you have a glossy dough, which doesn’t stick to the bowl.
5. Allow to prove in a warm place for at least 30 minutes until the dough has doubled in size, as this is the yeast beginning to work.
6. Whilst your dough is proving pre-heat your oven to gas mark 6 and then prepare your toppings for this loaf. I decided to chiffonade some sage leaves, with freshly picked rosemary and lastly juliennes of banana shallots.
7. Incorporate together with a pinch of natural pink sea salt, as this releases the natural oils out of the herbs and a little moisture out of the shallots.
8. Once the dough has risen, add some brunoised rosemary to run through the dough, as this helps to perfume the dough, but also helps to elevate the other herbs.
9. Knock the dough back and lightly oil two large non-stick baking trays, place into the oven for at least 45 minutes with a dash of cold water (as this helps to develop the crumb)
10. To check that your focaccia is cooked all the way through, the dough should be light golden brown, crisp on the bottom and light and airy.

Roasted Vine Tomato soup ingredients:

1 Green chilli sliced (with the seeds left in)
1 red chilli sliced (with the seeds left in)
1 shallot (peeled and sliced)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
1 Large onion (sliced)
Organic tomatoes
2 bruised bay leaves
2  pricked rosemary sprigs

1. To begin your roasted tomato soup, keep your British organic tomatoes on their vine as this helps to perfume both the cooking oil and soup giving it a wonderful greenhouse aroma.
2. Lightly oil and season your tomatoes with a pinch of pink sea salt and black pepper.
3. Roast on a high oven for 30 minutes until popped and light blackened as this will help to impart a smoky note to the soup.
4. For your base slice 1 large green and 1 red chilli (with the seeds left in), 1 large shallot sliced, 1 large onion sliced and 2 cloves of garlic crushed.
5. Add these to the pan along with a glug of olive oil, cooking out on a light heat until you have a Lyonnais texture, as this is the base of your soup where you can lay your flavour foundations.
6. Once ready add your tomatoes (still with the vines attached) along with two large bruised bay leaves and two picked sprigs of rosemary.
7. Add your tomatoes and allow to cook away on a low heat, enabling the flavours to merge.
8. To finish this soup add the juice of one lemon, and blitz, as this is a no wastage soup I kept all of the vines, rosemary and bay leaves in the soup and just blended the soup using a high powder hand blender. As this is where the minerals and vitamins of the vegetables are locked in.
9. If you like a silky smooth soup you can pass your soup through a fine chinois
10. To garnish in a frying pan lightly fry off some sage leaves once fried remove from the oil and lay onto a piece of j cloth and hit with a little sea salt.

This is a great winter warmer of a soup as it is vegan, gluten and diary free.
This soup freezes in vac pac bags or your normal freezer zipper bags – the perfect  healthy quick lunch or dinner on hand when you haven’t got the time.