Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

Good things happen when peppers are past their prime in my veggie drawer.

I had two fat bell peppers, one kind of wrinkly and one pretty nice.  And a I had a bag of those multi-colored peppers from Costco (yellow, red, orange).  I also had a nice red tomato, and everything else in my pantry and fridge to make this soup.

I like spicy.  And creamy.  You could make this without the chili flakes.  You could add more tomato.  You could skip the cream (why would you, seriously?).  It's your soup.

Here's my soup.  Enjoy all the "ORS" in the recipe.

And here's how to do the peppers in your own kitchen:

http://sassyfamily8.blogspot.com/2011/08/roasted-red-peppers-how-to.html


Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup

1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
big (or small) pinch of red chili flakes
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 large bell peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded (or a couple jars of roasted red peppers)
1 large tomato, blanched, peeled and seeded (or 2 or 3 tomatoes, or 1 can whole or diced tomatoes)
2 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth, or water)
2 teaspoons fresh chopped oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil (or 2 tsp dried)
1/2 cup heavy cream

In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in the butter and olive oil, adding salt and pepper to taste, plus the sugar.  When they soften some, add your pinch of chili flakes.  Move that around a bit, and then add the white wine.  Turn up the heat and add the peppers, tomato, chicken broth, and chopped herbs.  Bring to a simmer, then lower to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool for a while (or not) and blend it up in your blender or use an immersion blender.  Put the pot back on the stove, heat on low, and add the cream, just heating the soup through.  Taste for salt and pepper.

Yum.

(Just too pretty not to take a picture of the colors before pureeing.)