1. Heat up the oven to 200° C / 390° F and grab a large baking dish or tray. Use a larger tray (ignore the first photo – I used it as it looked nice) and ensure there is a bit of space around each piece of fennel to get more caramelisation.
2. Coat (or brush if wanting to use less oil) fennel, onion, cherry tomatoes and garlic cloves in olive oil and drizzle the onions in balsamic vinegar. Scatter with thyme leaves, sprinkle with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cumin and chilli if using.
3. Roast for about 25-30 minutes (flipping onto the other side half way through) until fennel is soft and caramelised on both sides.
4. While the veggies are roasting, place squashed canned tomatoes and 1 cup of stock in a large pot. Allow it to come to boil and simmer, covered until tomatoes fall apart.
5. Transfer all the roasted veggies (deglaze the pan with hot water and add that too) to a blender with some stock, simmered tinned tomatoes and a jarred pepper (if using). Blend until smooth.
6. Transfer to back to the pot you used to cook canned tomatoes, warm up and season to taste, with more salt, pepper, balsamic or sweetener if needed. Dilute with a bit more stock if needed.
7. Serve with swirl of cashew cream on top and homemade croutons or spiced chickpeas for more substance .

CROUTONS

1. Cut the bread into an even dice. I went for small 0.5 cm / 0.2″ cubes.
2. If your bread is fresh, like mine was, toast it on a dry stainless steel pan first until dry and barely toasted. Otherwise the croutons will be greasy.
3. Once the cubes of bread are dry, remove them from the pan and wipe the pan with a clean kitchen towel.
4. Return the pan to the stove and heat up the oil slowly. Once the oil gets hot, throw the bread cubes in and immediately coat them in the hot oil.
5. Allow the bread to toast slowly in the pan, tossing it around from time to time. Season with a good pinch of salt and set aside for the soup.