Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup

When it's Bill's kids' weekend at our house, we like to prepare something for Friday's dinner on Thursday night.  First, just about anything cooked the day before tastes so much better the next day (think Red Sauce , Chili, and just about any casserole or soup.) And second, after a full day of work and picking up the kids, who wants to make dinner?  I get home first, so I pop it in the oven or reheat on the stove and throw together a salad so everything's ready when they get home. 

Last night Matthew and I made soup for tonight that we'll serve with a salad made with lettuce from our garden (yay!!) and some cheesy garlic bread. Creamy Roasted Red Pepper soup is one of our family's favorites! It takes a longer time than other soups to make, but boy is it worth it! We have made several recipes from The Soup Bible and this is our adaptation of their recipe.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Prep time:  45 min.  Inactive time:  30 min. Cook time:  15 min.

Ingredients

• 8 large red bell peppers
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 1/2 quarts chicken, vegetable, or beef stock, unsalted (Kitchen Basics is what we use)
• 4 large basil leaves, sliced thinly
• 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste 
• 1 tsp. black pepper 
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup cream
• paprika for garnish

Directions

1. Place peppers on a foil-lined broiler pan or cookie sheet and set a few inches under the broiler. Be sure to line your pan with foil, because the peppers release their juice/water as they cook.  Clean up is easier, too.
2. Watch them carefully!  Every few minutes, turn and rotate the peppers with tongs until the skin is black and blistered all over and the peppers are quite soft.  (This took about 30 minutes because we didn't want to get too close to the oven's heating element --we had the rack on the second level.) 
3. While your peppers are broiling, cook the onions in the olive oil in a medium sized pot until soft, then add the garlic and basil and cook for 1 minute more, then remove from the heat.
4. As the peppers get blackened and soft, drop them into a gallon sized zip top bag and place the zipped-up bag on a heat-safe surface like a trivet or cutting board. Caution:  the bags are HOT! 
5. Allow the peppers to cool for at least 30 minutes, until they are cool enough to handle. Remove one pepper from the bag and using your hands, gently rub the pepper until all the skin comes off.  Pull out the stem and discard.  Slice open the pepper and remove all of the seeds; discard skin and seeds.  (I find it convenient to place a plastic grocery bag on the counter and just drop everything in that.)  Roughly chop the pepper and add to the pot containing the onions.  Repeat with the remaining peppers.  
6. Add 1/2 quart (2 cups) of stock, salt, black pepper, and tomato paste to the pot. 
7. Working in batches, puree the contents of the pot.  For a super creamy consistency, use a blender or for a slightly chunkier texture, use a food processor.  Pour the puree into a larger pot. 
8. Add the remaining stock (2 quarts) and cook at a high simmer for 15 minutes.  Turn off  and remove from heat. 
9. If serving immediately, stir in the cream.  Garnish with sprinkles of paprika when ladled into bowls.  
10. If serving the next day (recommended), allow to cool completely and place the entire pot in the refrigerator.  The next day, place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil, then turn off and remove from heat. Stir in the cream.  Garnish with sprinkles of paprika when ladled into bowls.  Excellent with croutons.

Makes 8 servings plus extra for seconds...so it makes 12 servings.