I seem to go through food phases where I become obsessed with a certain food. My current obsession? Red Bell Peppers. So, it was to my delight to find a recipe for a Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup on Pinterest! It was got even better when I clicked thru to see that the recipe was from a food blog I read regularly, Five and Spice, who adapted the recipe from  Oui Chef. (I of course altered it a bit more!)

This soup is phenomenal! Much like tomato soup, you can taste the sweetness of red pepper with a tad of spice. Topped with feta cheese and a little parsley, then paired with a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, it makes for the perfect meal.

While roasting the vegetables, the house was filled with an amazing earthy smell. And even though it’s called Red Bell Pepper Soup, I used a mixture of red, orange and yellow peppers. I wouldn’t use green bell peppers though. They just aren’t sweet and are too bitter for this recipe. I’ve read that peeling bell peppers is a pain, but I had no trouble. Maybe it was because I coated them thoroughly with olive oil? At any rate after they cooled for a few minutes, the skins easily slipped off.

More painful for me was the blending. I was excited to use the immersion blender my Mom gave me a few years ago (which I had never used). Unfortunately, I struck out. After about 10 minutes of trying, it was still too chunky. Throwing it in the blender gave me the rich, velvety texture I was looking for.

The original recipe called for chicken or vegetable sock. I subbed my favorite, Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base. Super tasty it’s easy for those times when you don’t have stock on hand. I also find it salty enough that I never have to add salt in the recipe.

When you are tired of plain old tomato soup, I encourage you to give this a try!

Roasted Bell Pepper Soup
(serves about 3)

• 5-6 large bell peppers, red, orange, or yellow, cut in half, and cored, seeds, and stems removed
• 4-5 medium-large tomatoes, cut in half
• 4 large garlic cloves, still in their skins
• 3 large shallots, peeled and cut in half
• olive oil
• 3 cups vegetable stock prepared with Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base
• salt, fresh ground pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

1. Heat your oven to 425F.
2. Place all the vegetables into a large roasting pan or cookie sheet .
3. Douse with olive oil and toss to coat.
4. Turn all of the peppers and tomatoes so that their cut sides are down.
5. Put in the oven and roast for 50-60 minutes, until the pepper and tomato skins are blistered and charred and the garlic and shallots are soft.
6. Remove from the oven until the vegetables are cool enough to handle.
7. Use your fingers to remove the skins from the peppers and tomatoes.  **This will be messy!!!
8. Cut the very ends off of the garlic cloves and squeeze the roasted garlic out.
9. Put all of the roasted vegetables into a pot, add the stock and bring to a boil.
10. Turn the heat down and simmer for about 15 minutes, uncovered.
11. Working in batches, carefully pour the soup in a blender to puree. Only fill about halfway so that the soup does not overflow.
12. Pour the pureed soup through a strainer.
13. Add salt, fresh ground pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.
14. If you are going to serve immediately, return all of the soup to the pot, and reheat. Otherwise you can reheat on the stove or microwave when ready.