Soup for dinner

I’ve struggled to get my creative juices flowing this week.  I’m putting it down to the departure of number one son back to north Queensland for another year as a jackaroo and the realisation that I won’t see him until Christmas.  We all miss him dreadfully, but it’s time to put my big girl pants on and show up. 

Number two son is in his final year of school so this year’s main focus is keeping him healthy, fit, focussed and calm.  As with any teenager, finding healthy dinner options is sometimes challenging.  I have been lucky that my boys will give most things a try.  They are very definite in their likes and dislikes, but only after they’ve given it a red hot go.

When I first served this soup for dinner, it was met with some quizzical looks by the boys and the hubby for that matter.  After trying it, though, they were impressed and it has become a staple in my repertoire.

Roasted tomato, carrot, capsicum and fennel soup with fish

• 2kg tomatoes quartered (or 5 tins 400g canned tomatoes)
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled, left whole
• 3 carrots, ends removed and cut in half
• 1 red capsicum, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 small fennel, ends trimmed and roughly chopped
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1kg white fish (barramundi, cod), cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 tablespoons basil, chopped roughly

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan-forced).  Line a roasting pan with baking paper.

Put the tomatoes (only if using fresh tomatoes), garlic, carrot, fennel and capsicum in the roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Cover tightly with foil and roast for 1 ½ hours until vegetables.  At this time, remove the foil and allow the vegetables to roast for a further 30 minutes uncovered until they become a little caramelised.

Transfer the vegetables into a blender.  If you are using tinned tomatoes, add them at this stage.  Blend until pureed.  Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and bring to the boil.  Add the fish and reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through.

Serve topped with chopped basil.

For the teenagers, I usually add some garlic bread or toasted sourdough.