Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup with Roasted Garlic and Chives

Preheat the oven to 200°C (gas mark 6 / 400°F).

Halve the red peppers and remove the seeds. Lay them in a deep baking tray and drizzle with half of the oil. Put the baking tray on the top shelf of the preheated oven oven.

Peel and then cut the onion in half. Cut each half into approximately four wedges. Lay them in another deep baking dish along with the tomatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves. Drizzle them with the remaining oil. Put the dish in the oven underneath the peppers.

After around 40 minutes remove the peppers from the oven. Place them in a plastic freezer bag, seal the bag and let the bag sit on the counter for 20 minutes or until cool. Also remove the other roasted vegetables from the oven and set them aside.

After 20 minutes, remove the peppers from the bag and remove the peels with a knife. Transfer the pepper flesh to a blender with the roasted tomatoes and onion. Squeeze the flesh of each garlic clove into the blender too (just squeeze the flesh out of the peel). Also add the chives and black pepper and crumble in the stock cube. Do not blend quite yet.

Pour a little (just a cup or so) boiling water into each baking dish (now empty) and scrape around the pan to allow the juices and flavours to mix with the water. Add this to the blender. Blitz the contents until smooth. Transfer the mixture into a large saucepan over medium heat and allow it to heat through. Add a little water to make the soup thinner if you need to.

Serve hot with a drizzle of cream and a few more chopped chives.