Since my other half moved in (ahead of the wedding of 2016!), I have discovered the differences between the male food shopping method, and well, mine! Let’s just say, sometimes we end up with a multitude of yoghurts and eggs, but a little light in the fruit and veg department. It makes us chuckle and we end up playing our own version of Ready Steady Cook!
This week our fridge was over-stocked with cherry tomatoes. We could have feed the entire street with them, and still have some left over. So, out came the slow cooker, and my recipe inventing cap, and I came up with this; a slow roasted garlic, coconut and tomato soup. It’s slightly faffy to begin with, but it tastes sooo good.
If I was the suspicious type, I’d think that my husband-to-be was trying to keep me young by buying all the tomatoes, as the phytochemical, lycopene, helps eliminate skin-aging free radicals which are caused by ultraviolet rays. (Lycopene is the bright red pigment, found in tomatoes and other red fruit and veg.)
The little round red balls, have outstanding antioxidant content, and lycopene in particular protects and stimulates osteoblasts, which are important bone-building and protecting cells. They are also excellent at lowering cholesterol and the risk of heart problems like atherosclerosis.
Researchers at Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggest that bioavailability or absorption of lycopene is greatest when tomatoes are cooked with olive oil “Increases in plasma lycopene concentration after consumption of tomatoes cooked with olive oil.” When tomatoes are cooked, the lycopene in the raw tomato is converted into trans-lycopene, which is more readily absorbed.
Give my soup a go and let me know what you think.
Slow Roasted Garlic, Coconut and Tomato Soup
Serves 4. Makes about 2.5 pints. Freezable.
Ingredients
- 700g cherry tomatoes
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- Can of coconut milk
- 1 head garlic
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- ½ cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C.
- Peel the cloves of garlic. Place them on a square of foil and top with the olive oil. Fold the foil around the cloves to make a packet. Roast in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
- While the garlic is roasting, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the tomatoes and boil for 3 minutes.
- Drain the tomatoes and run under cold water until they are cool enough to touch. Remove the skin and add to the slow cooker.
- Add all the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker, including the roasted garlic but except the coconut milk. (This goes in after the soup is cooked).
- Cook on high for 5 hours, or until vegetables are soft.
- Turn the machine off and stir in the coconut milk.
- Puree the soup in a blender until completely smooth.
- If you prefer your soup really smooth, pass it through a sieve or muslin, this gets rid of the seeds. I like it with the seeds, but it is preference.
- Spoon into warm bowls and enjoy.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. Don’t forget to check out my Instagram page for more inspiration and recipes.
dutters eats well 