Roasted Red Pepper And Tomato Soup With Smoky Caprese Panini Food

CREAMY ROASTED RED PEPPER TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Roast red peppers in a 500 degree F (260 C) oven (on a foil-lined baking sheet) or over an open flame on a grill or gas stovetop until tender and charred on all sides - about 10-15 minutes in the oven, or 5 minutes over an open flame. Then wrap in foil to steam for a few minutes.
• In the meantime, add remaining soup ingredients to large pot and bring to a simmer. Then unwrap red peppers, let cool to the touch, and remove charred outer skin seeds and stems. Add to soup (see photo).
• Transfer to blender or use immersion blender to purée soup. Then transfer back to saucepan/pot and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more coconut sugar or stevia to sweeten, red pepper flake for heat, basil or dill for earthiness, garlic powder for overall flavor, or salt for saltiness. I added a bit more of each. Go for big flavor!
• Let simmer on low for at least 10 more minutes. The longer it simmers, the deeper the flavor develops.
• Serve as is or top with desired toppings, such as croutons, fresh dill or basil, tomatoes, crispy baked chickpeas, nutritional yeast or Vegan Parmesan Cheese, and/or black pepper.
• Leftovers will keep covered in the refrigerator for 4-5 days or the freezer for 1 month.

CREAMY TOMATO AND ROASTED PEPPER SOUP

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and carrots and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute until just fragrant. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomato paste and cook until toasted, just 1 more minute.
• Add tomatoes, red peppers, and chicken broth and let simmer for 25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the flavors have melded together. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper, and the sugar, if needed. Add half-and-half and basil, and puree using a hand held immersion blender until smooth.
• Serve in soup bowls with a sprinkle of fresh basil on top.

ROASTED RED PEPPER & TOMATO SOUP WITH RICOTTA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the tomatoes, onion and peppers in a roasting tin, toss with the oil and season. Nestle in the garlic and thyme sprigs, then roast for 25-30 mins until all the veg has softened and slightly caramelised. Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins into the tin, strip the leaves off the thyme and discard the stalks and garlic skins. Mix the vinegar into the tin then blend everything in a bullet blender or using a stick blender, adding enough water to loosen to your preferred consistency (we used around 150ml).
• Reheat the soup if necessary, taste for seasoning, then spoon into two bowls and top each with a spoonful of ricotta, a few basil leaves, the seeds and a drizzle of oil. Serve with bread for dunking.

ROASTED RED PEPPER PANINI

Steps:

• Process Country Crock® Spread, basil and garlic in food processor or blender until almost smooth.
• Spread 2 slices bread with basil butter. Top with spinach, roasted pepper, mozzarella, and remaining bread slices.
• To cook in panini press: Preheat the press. Add sandwich and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions until golden and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining sandwich.
• To cook in skillet: Melt 1 tablespoon Country Crock® Spread over medium heat in skillet and add sandwiches to skillet. Place a heatproof plate on top of sandwiches and weigh down with heavy heat-proof object. Cook sandwiches 3 to 4 minutes or until golden. Turn sandwiches over and weigh down with plate. Cook 3 minutes or until golden and cheese is melted.

ROASTED RED PEPPER AND TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Roast peppers: rub oil on peppers and put them under the broiler until blackened, turn to get all sides. Put into paper bag and seal. Let rest for 15 minutes, then peel will come right off and core and seeds will fall out. Chop peppers. Reserve one chopped pepper; set aside.
• Heat olive oil over moderate heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until soft but not brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato, bell peppers (except reserved), thyme, paprika, and sugar. Cook over medium-low heat until all the tomato juices have evaporated, about 25 minutes.
• Stir in chicken stock, salt and pepper, cayenne pepper, and hot sauce (if using). Bring to boiling, lower heat, and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
• Strain soup, reserving broth. Place solids in food processor or blender, and process until fairly smooth. Add puree back into broth.
• Melt butter and stir in the flour, cook for 1 minute. Stirring slowly, add the broth/vegetable mixture. Add reserved chopped pepper and bring to boiling. Lower heat and simmer 10 minutes.
• Ladle into bowls and add 1 tablespoon of sour cream to each bowl. For a lighter soup, this is also delicious without the sour cream.

ROASTED RED PEPPER AND TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit with racks in the upper third and middle of the oven. Line two large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Place the tomatoes on one of the prepared baking sheets. Place the bell peppers and onions on the other baking sheet. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil over each baking sheet.
• Gently toss the tomatoes until lightly coated in oil, then position the tomatoes so the skin sides are facing down. Set aside.
• Gently toss the onions and red peppers until they are lightly coated in oil (try to keep the onion wedges intact as best you can). Position the red peppers with the skin sides facing down. Place the unpeeled garlic cloves on the sheet, too.
• Place the tomatoes on the top rack of the oven and the peppers and onion on the middle rack. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the vegetables are tender throughout and turning nicely golden on the edges.
• When the vegetables are done, bring the vegetable broth to boil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Peel your garlic and toss it in. Add the roasted vegetables, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, if using, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer for 10 minutes, reducing heat as necessary to maintain a steady simmer.
• Purée the soup using an immersion blender or transfer the soup to a blender in batches, several cups at a time. Season to taste with salt (I added another 1/2 teaspoon) and pepper. Enjoy.

SMOKY CAPRESE SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• If your ciabatta rolls are very bready, pick out a little of the crumb. Put the rolls on a baking pan and bake until warm and crisp on the outside, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a small grill pan or cast-iron pan over medium-high heat until very hot. Toss the red onion in 1 tablespoon of the oil and sprinkle with a little salt, then grill, turning occasionally, until slightly softened and charred in spots, about 6 minutes.
• Stir together the basil, smoked almonds, crushed red pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil in a bowl.
• Arrange the bottom halves of the ciabatta rolls on a work surface. Drizzle with a little olive oil, then arrange the tomatoes on top; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Next, top evenly with the onions, followed by the almond mixture. Lay the mozzarella on top; sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little more olive oil. Top with the arugula and serve immediately.

ROASTED RED PEPPER AND TOMATO SOUP

Steps:

• Pre heat oven to 425 degrees.
• Line 1 cookie sheet with tin foil - wash and cut tomatoes in half, arrange cut side down on cookie sheet, drizzle generously with good extra virgin olive oil, course, kosher or sea salt and a touch of ground pepper - bake until tomato peels have split and developed a nice caramelized texture. Approximately 45 - 60 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool, remove tomato skins.
• While the tomatoes are caramelizing in the oven take your red peppers and blacken them over an open gas flame or in the case you do not have gas this can also be accomplished over an electric element simply by allowing the pepper contact with the heating coil till it blackens, or you could also do this on a gas grill. Place blackened peppers in a brown paper bag and allow to cool - I always make sure I have a plastic bag on the outside as the juices from the peppers will soak through as they cool. Once cooled remove skins, tops, ribs and seeds. Do not wash.
• In a large soup pot add 1 tbsp olive oil add onions, garlic and sauté till onions appear clear. Add chicken stock, white wine, tomato paste, basil, tomatoes and peppers. Allow to cook for approximately 30 minutes. If you have a hand held blender, puree until a creamy texture is accomplished, or you can do this in a blender a few cups at a time being very careful not to over crowd the blender as the top will pop off with the heat. Return the pureed mixture back to the pot add pepper flakes and reduce over medium heat for 10 minutes - if desired add cream and serve!