- 1 red onion
- 2 red peppers
- 400g vine tomatoes
- 1 garlic clove
- A thumb of ginger
- 1 chilli
- 1 tsp Szechuan peppercorns
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Sea salt
- 600ml boiling water
- 1.
Heat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 6. Put a roasting tin in the oven to warm up.
- 2.
Peel and slice the red onion. Tip it into a bowl. Halve the peppers. Scoop out the seeds and white bits. Roughly chop them. Add to the bowl. Quarter the tomatoes and add them.
- 3.
Peel and grate the garlic and ginger. Finely chop the chilli – flicking out the seeds for less heat. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli to the bowl with the Szechuan peppercorns. Pour in 1 tbsp olive oil and add a pinch of salt. Turn everything to coat it in the oil and spices.
- 4.
Take the roasting tin out of the oven. Tumble in the veg. Spread them out in an even layer. Roast for 30 mins till the veg are soft and a little charred at the edges. While the veg roast, crumble the stock cube into a heatproof jug. Pour in 600ml boiling water and stir to dissolve.
- 5.
When the veg are soft, tip them and any juices from the tin into a blender. Pour in the stock. Blitz till smooth. No blender? Pour the stock into the tin and use a hand-held blender to blitz it, or use a potato masher to mash everything together as much as you can, then stir in the stock.
- 6.
Taste the soup. Add a pinch more salt if you think it needs it. Serve the soup in warm bowls.