Roasting fresh tomatoes and capsicum infuses a deeply sweet vegetal flavour to this nurturing soup. Sprinkled with feta and basil, these bowls make for perfect trans-seasonal fare, being equally nourishing in cool or warm weather. Be sure to mop up every last morsel with slabs of golden, cheesy garlic bread.
Preheat oven to 200°C fan-forced. Peel onion. Slice tomatoes and onion into wedges. Remove core from capsicum and cut into 1cm-thick slices. Place tomatoes, onions, capsicum and unpeeled garlic cloves in a roasting tray.
Add paprika, olive oil, salt and pepper to vegetables and toss to coat. Roast for 25 minutes or until soft, bubbling and vegetables are lightly charred (if they are charring too quickly, loosely cover the tray with foil and continue roasting). While the vegetables are roasting, continue with step 3.
Cut ½ the feta into 5mm-thick slices. Insert 1 slice of feta and 1 basil leaf into each incision in the pre-cut garlic bread (if there are no cuts in your bread, just make some shallow slices with a knife). Wrap with baking paper and aluminium foil, place in the oven and cook according to packet instructions.
When vegetables are nicely roasted, remove from oven. Carefully squeeze garlic cloves from their skins, discarding the skins. Place roasted garlic, vegetables and any cooking juices in a large saucepan.
Crumble stock cube into the saucepan with 500ml (2 cups) boiling water. Using a hand-blender, blend vegetables until thick and smooth. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a rapid simmer. Add 1⁄4 teaspoon each pepper and salt flakes and cook for a further 5 minutes to warm through.
Pick remaining basil leaves and stir half through the soup. Divide soup between bowls. Scatter with remaining basil leaves and crumble over remaining feta. Serve with feta garlic bread.