This is a secret weapon of a recipe. It can be prepared the day before any dinner party, and if you want turn it into a meal, add some ravioli and serve with garlic bread and a salad.

Prepare the Garlic:

1-2 heads of Garlic, chop just the very top of the bulb, baste it with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and put them in a 300 degree oven for about half an hour. Garlic will become nearly a paste and can be squeezed out by squeezing the whole bulb.

Prepare the Soup:

The soup
1 Large Onion
Olive oil
10 medium size tomatoes
1 Liter of store bought vegetable stock, or home made vegetable stock.
Fresh basil leaves

1. Dice the onion and sauté until soft in olive oil

2. chop the tomatoes and add

3. Cover with the vegetable stock - you may need a little more than a liter but it can be topped up with water.
Simmer for about 15 minutes - don't let it boil! just until the tomatoes start to break down a little , then turn off the heat and leave it to cool a little.

4. Stir in the basil and the roasted garlic.

5. Blend the soup then pass it through a sieve - This last step though not essential gives the soup a very smooth texture that works very well.

6. Cook the ravioli (I like to make my own for this recipe, but store bought is file), a simple cheese filling works very well with this.

7. Once the ravioli is nearly cooked, add it to the soup and bring the whole thing to a simmer.

Server with a sprinkle of parmesan on top and a few basil leaves for decoration.

Make sure there is black pepper on the table.

You may not need any salt depending on the vegetable stock you used so taste it first.

Garlic bread and salad on the side makes this an evening meal.