Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup
This amazing bright red Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup is simple in ingredients but rich in flavour. Funny story, I needed a prop for my Crab Cake Phyllo Cups and this was the result. The Crab Cake Phyllo Cups are for my Mini Tarts Book I’m writing but felt the photo’s needed a little something more.
The results made me very happy. This Soup is wonderful hot or cold and is elevated with the crunch of a couple simple croutons. The quality of the Tomatoes and Peppers is what decides the quality of this soup. I used a can of Fire Roasted Tomatoes and a good quality jar of Roasted Red Peppers, SIMPLE. You have the option of roasting your own Tomatoes and Peppers but there are very nice canned and jarred choices out there these days.
After the Tomatoes and Peppers there isn’t mush left. Half an Onion, some White Wine, Chicken or Vegetable Stock, Thyme, Bay leaf and Croutons. Your can opener does half the work for you what could be easier.
It starts quite simply by heating up some Olive Oil on low heat in a pan and sweating the Onion. Once the Onions turn translucent, after 3-5 minutes, deglaze with the White Wine and scrape all the flavourful little bits off the bottom of the pan.
Once the White Wine has reduced by about half add the rest of the ingredients. Hopefully you’ve found some roasted Tomatoes and Peppers to throw in along with the Stock, Thyme and Bay Leaf.
Teaching Note:
One thing I will remind you from time to time is that Salt always tastes better as part of the cooking process. Always remember to season and taste, season and taste as you go. Every time you take another step you add seasoning. When the Onions go in, a little seasoning, when the White Wine goes in a tiny pinch and when the rest goes in another tiny pinch. Taste after each addition and add more salt if needed. This habit or trick that professionals use can help improve the flavour of your food and eliminate the need for Salt and Pepper shakers on the table.
Turning ingredients into Soup:
To finish off the soup place all your ingredients into a blender and blend until delicate and smooth. The trick to this is to blend everything while it is still hot but at the same time not to paint your cupboard doors with soup. Blending hot ingredients will help create a smoother and more velvety texture but leave the lid off the blender. Or at the very least the remove the centre pour spout and place a folded towel over the opening. The towel will prevent anything from jumping out but allow the hot air to escape and prevent pressure from building up. Make sure to pulse a couple times first before you turn your blender all the way on. This too will help prevent everything jumping for the exit.
Finally you can pass the blended liquid through a sieve for a more even consistency but if you are in a hurry fill a bowl and go to town.
Roasted Pepper & Tomato Soup
Ingredients
- 1/2 Onion diced
- 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/4 C White Wine Dry works well
- 398ml can Diced Tomatoes Find Fire Roasted if you can
- 540ml Jar Roasted Red Peppers
- 1/2 C Stock, either Chicken or Vegetable
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 4-6 Springs Fresh Thyme dried 1-2 Tbsp
- 3-5 small Crountons
Instructions
- First things first... if you would like to roast your own Peppers and Tomatoes please do. On the BBQ or under the broiler in your oven gives them a nice dark color and use right away.
- BUT sometimes we all like SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE :), in that case go with some good quality canned and jarred ingredients. I say good quality because there aren't very many ingredients so you will taste the difference.
- Once again start with your "Mise en Place", dice the Onion, open you cans and jars and have all other ingredients ready to go.
- Heat your pan up on medium high heat, add the Olive Oil and allow the Oil to heat up before adding the Onions. Add the Onions and a pinch of Salt and toss or stir to coat.
- After the Onions turn translucent, reduce the heat and deglaze with White Wine.
- Allow the Wine to reduce by half and add the remaining ingredients along with additional seasoning. Cook everything together on low heat for 5-10 minutes.
- Transfer to a blender but make sure not to fill the blender more than half full. Fold a kitchen towel and place on top of the blender. Pulse a couple times to get things moving, turn to high and blend until smooth and sexy.
- After Everything is blended pour into a sieve and press through to smooth even more. You can discard any lumps or skins that are left behind in the sieve.
- Serve immediately with a couple of croutons or crusty bread. Or you can put the Soup in the fridge and have a nice cold soup snack for work.
- Check out my Tart book when it comes out for my Crab Cake Phyllo Tarts, they go great with this soup at a party.