This delicious Roasted Red Pepper Soup is a perfect meal for company and is good served either hot or cold. Smoky roasted red peppers, garlic, onion, and tomatoes are highlighted here with some fresh corn, crumbled feta, and cilantro oil. The chicken stock may be substituted with veggies stock for a vegetarian version.
I often hit the library up for cookbooks. I have quite a large collection here and my husband keeps reminding me that we really don’t need anymore! So in order to curb my craving for new foodie reads the library has been a great option for me to check out a bunch of books and get my fix. Recently I checked out Food52’s Volume 2 Cookbook and this Roasted Red Pepper Soup recipe caught my eye immediately.
I’ve tweaked the recipe here ever so slightly. The original recipe calls for shallots which I’ve replaced with just a regular onion as I didn’t have any. Roma tomatoes to substitute for the heirlooms (just used a few more of them). I’ve also simplified the method to make the cilantro oil, as the original method calls for blanching, and water baths, etc…and that’s a wee bit too fussy for me. I’m posting it the way that I made it, however, shallots would be excellent here if you have them, but don’t make a special trip to the store if you don’t, subbing in a regular onion works just fine.
This soup takes no time to put together and would be great served chilled as well on a hot day. It’s cooled down a little here in Calgary today, so soup seemed to fit the bill.
Basically you just prep and roast your veggies.
Once they are roasted.
Peel and combine them into a saucepan with chicken stock (veggie stock can be subbed in if you are vegetarian) and a dash of smoked paprika. Puree until smooth. Served over fresh corn that has been simmered with thyme, olive oil and butter, crumbled feta and a drizzle of cilantro oil which gets an extra boost of flavour from a splash of sherry vinegar.
If you love this soup you might want to try this Tomato and Red Lentil Bisque
Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Feta, Corn and Cilantro Oil
Ingredients
Soup
- 5 large Red Bell Peppers, cut in half, cores seeds and ribs removed
- 8 whole roma tomatoes, halved
- 1 large onion, peeled and quartered (reserve 1 quarter and chop that quarter finely)
- 8 large garlic cloves, in their skins
- olive oil
- to taste salt and pepper
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 1/2-3 cups chicken stock can substitute veggie stock
- 2 ears corn, husked and kernels cut from cob
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Cilantro Oil
- 1 small bunch cilantro
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- splash sherry vinegar
- to taste salt and pepper
Instructions
Cilantro Oil
- Chop up your cilantro and simmer for a few minutes in 1/2 cup of olive oil. Turn off the heat, add a splash of sherry vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Let sit while you prepare everything else to infuse.
Soup
- Heat your oven to 425F
- Toss your peppers, tomatoes, onions (reserve 1 quarter of the onion)and garlic(with skins on) with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray skin side up and roast for about 45-60 minutes. Your shallots and garlic may finish sooner so check them half way through and remove earlier if done.
- Remove from the oven once charred and carefully peel the skin from the peppers and tomatoes. Put these into a large pot along with the onions. Squeeze the garlic from their skins and add this in too.
- Add in your chicken stock and smoked paprika. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
- While this is working heat up a small skillet. Add your diced reserved onion and cook for a few minutes or so until starting to colour. Add in your corn, thyme and salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes then add in your butter. Turn off the heat and transfer to a bowl.
- Puree your soup in batches with a blender or using an immersion blender. Thin out as needed with a bit more chicken stock. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- To serve place a heaping pile of corn in the centre of a bowl and pour your hot soup in. Top with crumbled feta and drizzle with cilantro oil. Serve immediately.
