Prick the cherry tomatoes and toss them with one sliced clove of garlic and a quarter of the basil leaves. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, put them in a roasting tray and cook in the oven at 180C/350F/gas 4 for 20 minutes so the flavour from the roasted tomatoes becomes intense and concentrated.
Heat a splash of olive oil in a large pot and add the remaining garlic and the basil stalks. Stir around and gently fry for a minute until softened. Add tinned tomatoes, then fill the tin with water and add in the pot. Break the tomatoes with a spoon, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
Tear the bread up into thumb-sized pieces and add them to the pan. Mix well and season to taste. Tear in the basil leaves and let the soup sit on a low heat for 10 minutes. When the roasted cherry tomatoes are done with juice bursting out of their skins, remove them from the tray, scrape the sticky bits from the bottom. Pour them into the soup with all the juices, basil and oil from the tray.
Give the soup a good stir to give it a thick, silky, porridgey texture. Adjust it with little water if desired. Then remove it from the heat and add 6 or 7 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Divide between your bowls and serve with a little extra basil torn over the top if you like. The most important thing with this soup is that you have a wonderfully intense sweet tomato basil flavour.
Source : Jamie Oliver "Jamie's Italy" |
