This soup was from a menu I designed for the Royal Overseas League Club in Mayfair to mark the Commonwealth date. It proved a very popular dish during the month it was featured.
I used the oak smoked tomatoes by the Tomato Stall.
I also used chicken stock but if you want to make it vegetarian, use vegetable stock and for vegan of course, you will need vegan stock, plant based cream and perhaps whip some vegan cheese with a bit of umeboshi paste to give it a bit of an umami flavour.
You may serve the soup with just a piece of goats cheese topped with a couple of roasted garlic cloves or mix the roasted garlic with goats cheese to create a mousse to pipe on top of the crispbread.
Ingredients (serves 5 people x 250ml soup)
- 1 tsp mild extra virgin olive oil or oil from the jar of smoked tomatoes if using
- 50g smoked tomatoes
- 500ml tomato juice
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ½ tsp freshly roasted and crushed coriander seeds
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 Ltr vegetable stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 25g panko crumbs
- Salt and pepper to taste
To serve:
- Double cream to drizzle
- Finely chopped fresh coriander and/or smoked salt to intensify the smokiness but seasoning the soup needs to be adjusted to reflect this.
To accompany
Seed crisps (see recipe below) topped with soft goat cheese, 2 roasted cloves of garlic (as per recipe below and sprinkled with some lightly roasted cumin seeds).
Method
Bring a pan to a medium heat and add the oil. Sizzle the garlic and spices to release the flavours. Add the tomato paste and sugar and stir for 1 minute. Add the smoked tomatoes, juice, stock, panko crumbs, bay leaves and season lightly. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and cook for 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and blitz the soup in a blender to serve, adjusting the seasoning.
For the seed crackers (this amount makes many depending on size per portion)
- 200g flax seeds
- 50g chia seeds
- 60g sesame seeds
- 8g sea salt
- Ground pepper
Method
Mix the seeds with 600ml water and leave in a bowl covered overnight. Season and spread the seeds onto silicone mat lined oven tray and bake at 80 C for a few hours until completely dry and crisp. Use a cutter to cut into oblongs or just break up in irregular shapes by hand.
For the roasted garlic goat cheese mousse (serves 5)
- 2 garlic bulbs
- 100g fresh goats cheese
- 2 tbsp EVOO
- 3-4 thyme sprigs
- Sea salt & pepper
- double cream or Greek yogurt as needed
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C.
Slice off the top quarter of each garlic bulb to reveal the cloves. Blanch the garlic in boiling water for 10 minutes. Drain the garlic, drizzle with a tiny amount of extra virgin olive oil, wrap in foil with the thyme sprigs and bake for 40 minutes. Squeeze the soft-cooked garlic out of its skin and mash using a fork. Mix the garlic with the goats cheese adding some double cream or Greek yogurt as needed to create a mousse consistency.
