Roasted Tomato Soup with Ricotta Fritters

There aren’t many things as satisfying as a steaming bowl of soup on a cold evening… until you add cheese, then it becomes the most satisfying thing ever! Put this meal together in 30 minutes – it’s much easier than it seems.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Ricotta Fritters

Serves 4 as a main, or 6 – 8 as a starter

Ingredients

For the tomato soup

1kg ripe Roma tomatoes

700g mixed exotic tomatoes

6 whole garlic cloves, peeled

1 large red chilli, quartered (remove seeds if you prefer it less spicy)

Maldon salt

Black pepper

Olive oil

1 Tbls sugar

½ cup fresh basil leaves

For the Ricotta fritters

2 cups Ricotta

1 cup bread crumbs

3 large eggs

3 Tbls fresh basil, finely chopped

Salt

Black pepper

Olive oil

Fresh basil and crusty bread for serving.

How to make it

For the tomato soup

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C.

Quarter the large Roma tomatoes, halve the medium exotic tomatoes and keep the small tomatoes whole.

Arrange all the tomatoes on a deep baking tray and add the garlic and chilli.

Season well with salt & black pepper and drizzle liberally with olive oil.

Bake on the middle rack for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and give all the ingredients a toss to make sure nothing is sticking too much.

Sprinkle with sugar and return to the oven for another 5 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

Using a stick blender or liquidizer, process the tomatoes (along with all the pan juices) until smooth and liquid, adding a glug of olive oil while you are liquidizing.

Add the basil leaves and blitz until all the ingredients are well combined and liquid.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For the Ricotta fritters

Make these while the tomatoes are roasting.

Crumble and soften the ricotta with a fork.

Add the lightly beaten eggs, bread crumbs and basil. Mix well.

Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Shape into rounds (a lightly packed ¼ cup or golf ball size) and flatten to form fritters.

Set aside until needed.

Finishing off

Start heating the tomato soup over a low heat.

Meanwhile, heat a glug of olive oil in a heavy based pan and fry the ricotta fritters in batches until golden brown. About 3 minutes a side.

Spoon the hot soup into serving bowls and float 3 – 5 ricotta fritters on top.

Garnish with fresh basil and serve with crusty bread.

Serve hot.

Tips

• If you prefer a super smooth soup, you can cool the tomatoes after they have been roasted and remove the seeds and skins. But this is really time consuming and not necessary.
• If you do have a bit more time, try making your own Ricotta: Bring 4 L milk to the boil. As soon as it starts bubbling remove from the heat and add 4 – 6 Tbls fresh lemon juice. Stir until the curds separate from the whey. Strain the solids from the liquid through a cheese cloth and hang the cheese (still in the cheese cloth) to drip out the last liquid for about 30 minutes. And voila, you’ve made ricotta!