Delicious May 2011 - Tomato Soup with Melting Bocconcini

Hmmm, I have been on holidays. I went away for a few days. I had planned on doing a lot of blogging throughout my two weeks off but it just didn't turn out that way. Oh well, I guess that is just the way that things turn out some times. 

I really couldn't go past the cover recipe from this issue. Valli's Tomato Soup with Melting Bocconcini just looked so inviting. I also love making tomato soup as with the leftovers use it to make a lovely tomato risotto. I just loved this recipe it was relatively easy to make. It was rich and wonderful. Make sure to take the bocconcini straight from the oven and into the soup. Mine sat for about a minute and they were a bit rubbery. Oh, and next time I would roast the cherry tomatoes later too as they were cold by the time I served the soup. I think it would have been better to have been much better if they were hot. Although I have a recipe for tomato soup that I have made several times I think it will definitely be replaced with this one. I served it with the Parmesan & Garlic Bread recipe that followed.

Tomato Soup with Melting Bocconcini 

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg roma tomatoes, halved
• pinch caster sugar 
• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle 
• 12 vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
• 50 g unsalted butter 
• 2 each, onions, carrots, celery & garlic cloves, chopped 
• 400g can chopped tomatoes 
• 2 tbsp sundried tomato paste (I used tomato pesto) 
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 basil sprig, plus extra leaves for garnish 
• 1 L (4 cups) vegetable stock 
• 12 baby bocconcini

Method:

• Pre-heat oven to 160 C. Place roma tomatoes, cut side up, on a baking tray. Sprinkle with sugar, drizzle with oil and season. Roast for 30 minutes until softened.
• Add cherry tomatoes to the tray, drizzle with a little more oil and season. Return to the oven for a further 10 minutes or until lightly charred and softened. Set aside. 
• Heat butter and 1 tbsp oil in pan over a medium heat. Cook onion, carrot, celery and garlic, stirring, for 2 - 3 minutes or until softened. Add canned tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, basil, stock, roasted roma tomatoes and any cooking juices. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 - 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender. (I cooked about 40 minutes) 
• Discard basil sprig & bay leaf, cool slightly, then blend the soup in batches. Pass through a sieve into a clean pan, then cook over low heat, stirring, for 2 - 3 minutes or until warmed through. Adjust seasoning. 
• Place the bocconcini on a baking try lined with baking paper and bake for 2 - 3 minutes until just warm and lightly melted (do not overcook or the cheese will melt completely). Ladle the soup into serving bowls and scoop molten bocconcini into each one. Garnish with the roasted cherry tomatoes and basil leaves.

Parmesan & Garlic Bread

Ingredients: 

• 3 garlic bulbs (skin on), halved horizontally
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 250g unsalted butter, softened (I used 150 g)
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley 
• 2 sourdough baguettes (I used regular) 
• 1 1/4 c finely grated parmesan 

Method: 

• Pre-heat oven to 170C 
• Drizzle garlic with oil and roast for 40 minutes or until soft. 
• Cool and then squeeze from the skin and mash together with the parsley & butter. 
• Cut baguettes diagonally, but not all the way through. 
• Spread with butter and then stuff some parmesan in and then sprinkle the rest on top. 
• Bake for 15 minutes or until crisp.