Jamie's Roast Cherry Tomato Soup

Ingredients

1kg ripe cherry tomatoes on the vine,red and yellow if you can get them
4 large tomatoes
1 fresh red chilli
4 cloves of garlic
1 ciabatta loaf
2 small red onions
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
a small bunch of fresh basil
a few dollops of creme fraiche, to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 220C
Pull the tomatoes off the vines, but leave some of their green tops on.
Quarter the larger tomatoes,then put all the tomatoes into a roasting tray.
Drizzle over a good lug of olive oil and season. Halve and deseed the red chilli and add to the tray.
Crush in 4 peeled cloves of garlic.
Quickly toss everything, then put on the top shelf of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes.
Get another roasting tray and rip the ciabatta loaf into 8 equal chunks. Add a good lug of olive oil, a pinch of salt and whack on to the bottom shelf of the oven.
Peel and roughly chop the onions and put them into the hot saucepan with a lug of olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Turn the heat up to medium and leave to soften, stirring occasionally.
Stir 4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar into the onions and let it cook away and reduce down.
Take the tray of tomatoes out of the oven and add everything to the pan of onions.
Check on the croutons - if they are crisp and golden turn off the oven, but leave them in there to keep warm.
In 2 batches, carefully pour the vegetables from the saucepan into a liquidizer.
Add most of the basil, put the lid on, cover with a tea towel and whiz to a fairly rustic consistency, pouring the mixture into a large pan or serving bowl as you go.
Once finished, mix well, season to taste and top with a dollop of créme fraiche, a few basil leaves and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Take to the table with a stack of soup bowls and the tray of croutons from the oven.
Put a crouton or two in the bottom of each soup bowl. Ladle the soup on top.

Notes

Just use an immersion blender in the pot with the onions instead of a food processor.