Roasted-tomato soup with cheese and herb dumplings

Preheat the oven to 210°C.

For the soup, place the tomatoes, cut side up, in a roasting tray with the garlic bulb halves, add the thyme sprigs and season to taste. Drizzle over a little olive oil and roast in the oven until the tomatoes are soft and their edges lightly golden, 45 minutes.

Remove the tomatoes from the oven and set the thyme aside. Place the tomatoes in a large pot and squeeze the garlic out of the bulbs into the pot (discard the skins). Add the sugar and add the vegetable stock and blend using a hand blender.

Bring the soup to a simmer over a low heat, for about 15 minutes while you make the dumplings.

For the dumplings, sifting the dry ingredients together into a bowl, and add the cheese and herbs.

Whisk 125ml (½ cup) of the milk with the eggs.

Melt the butter in the microwave then slowly add to the egg mixture, whisking continuously.

Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until just combined (it should be of a dropping consistency if the mixture is too dry then add more milk). Drop spoonfuls tablespoon of the mixture onto the top of the soup, cover and allow to steam until cooked through, 20 minutes. Do not lift the lid whilst steaming the dumplings. Serve immediately and garnish picked thyme leaves.