Time has been precious round these parts with moving home. My usual busting store cupboards have even been run down to Old Mother Hubbard levels. So you could say that there has been somewhat of a back to basics menu emerging from the kitchen as I'm conjuring up lots of impromptu, scant ingredient dishes to make even Ready, Steady, Cook's Ainsley Harriot raise an eyebrow.

After work yesterday, I managed to pilfer a bag of tomatoes from Papa Graphic Foodies garden, a couple of cloves of garlic and an onion (yeah, yeah I use onion AND garlic together - sue me!) and a few remaining leaves from my poor old plucked basil plant.

I "rustically" chopped the tomatoes and onion and popped them on a tray with the garlic, a generous sprinkling of sea salt and a good glug of olive oil and roasted them in a hot oven for about half an hour until the edges of the tomatoes were starting to singe. Then I simply whizzed this up with my trusty hand blender along with a nice handful of basil leaves. The tomatoes were a really flavour concentrated, ugly, pulpy type so they did need thinning slightly with some stock from my reserves but that was it and one of the tastiest meals I've had all week. Roasting really alters the flavour and gives it a creamy texture without the er, cream.

I think it really does help to have the best, pulpy, fragrant tomatoes you can get your mitts on and a top use up for those of you growing your own (when they all ripen at once and you end up with bucket loads!)

Part of me loves frugal time and ingredients cooking. I'd really love to hear all of yours...