Roast Tomato and Haricot Bean Soup with Goats' Cheese Croutons

A substantial soup that makes a great midday meal. It's so tasty!

Ingredients:

10 ripe vine tomatoes, halved
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 red chilli, de-seeded and roughly chopped
50g St Helen's Farm goats' butter, melted
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 red onions, cut into quarters
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
Olive oil
1½ litre vegetable stock
400g tin of haricot beans, drained
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon tomato puree
4 tablespoons St Helen's Farm natural goats' yogurt
20g fresh basil
12 thin slices ciabatta
100g St Helen's Farm goats' cheese, grated

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 190ºC/Gas 5.

Place the tomatoes flesh side up on to a baking tray with the red onion. Sprinkle over the chilli, garlic and balsamic vinegar. Then drizzle over the melted butter and season. Roast for about 30 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and nicely browned.

In a large pan heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and gently fry the celery and carrot until soft but not coloured. Now pour in the roasted tomatoes with all the juices from the tray, the vegetable stock, basil, sugar and tomato puree and bring to a simmer. Blend the soup until smooth and transfer back to the pan. Then add the haricot beans and season.

To make the croutons, place the ciabatta onto a baking tray, drizzle over the olive oil and top each slice with a little goats' cheese and bake until golden.

Serve the soup with a swirl of goats' milk yogurt, croutons and a little extra chopped fresh basil.

Serves 6-8

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 40 minutes