Tomato And Polenta Dumplings Soup

Preheat oven at 180 C/ 350 F/ Gas Mark 4.

Peel and wash all the vegetables. Peel only 2 garlic cloves the rest leave them skin on.

Cut tomatoes into quarters or halves, finely chop half rosemary, peppers and onions cut into chunks, 2 cloves of garlic (leave the skin on). Put all in a baking tray, toss them and sprinkle some salt, drizzle olive oil and freshly grind some black pepper. Place in the oven and roast for 25-30 min. At this point, you can increase the oven temperature to 200 C/ 400 F/ Gas mark 6 if you wish. Don’t forget to sprinkle the balsamic vinegar if you choose to add it. It’s really nice I do recommend you try it.

Begin preparing the polenta. (See below)

Place all the roast veggies into a cooking pot, over medium heat. Don’t forget to squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skin before adding the liter of boiling water or veggie stock. With the help of an electric hand blender, blend it all nicely until it becomes nice and smooth.

Season well. Place on med/high heat and simmer for another 15 min. This is what will give this soup a nice deep color and a rich taste.

While the vegetables are roasting, place a medium-sized pan over medium heat and put the 500 ml boiling water from the kettle in. Add some salt and the remainder of the rosemary needles, finely chopped.

When the water begins to boil again, sprinkle in the polenta flour little by little while stirring continuously with the other hand (with a wooden spoon) until it all goes in. Keep on stirring so that it doesn't form a crust. This should be ready in 5-7 min.

Form the polenta into spoonful-sized dumplings and spoon them into the soup. Cook for 5 extra minutes if you wish.