Roasted Tomato And Red Pepper Soup With Chilled Mint Food

CHILLED ROASTED TOMATO & RED PEPPER SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place tomatoes, peppers, and garlic on top. Drizzle with the olive oil and roast for 35 minutes until soft.
• Immediately transfer peppers to a sealable glass container or plastic bag and let sit for at least 25 minutes, or until peppers are cooked through. Remove stems and seeds. You can either peel or leave the skin on the peppers after they rest.
• Place tomatoes, garlic, peppers, dried basil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper in a high powered blender and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. If soup is not cold enough, place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
• Serve with optional toppings and enjoy!

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 TOMATO AND RED PEPPER SOUP WITH CHILLED MINT

Steps:

• Preheat broiler.
• Toss bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, and garlic with oil and coriander in a large roasting pan and broil about 4 inches from heat until edges of vegetables are charred, about 7 minutes. Stir vegetables, then broil until vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes more.
• Purée vegetables with any juices from pan in batches in a blender until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients except mint.
• Cool soup, uncovered, 30 minutes, then chill, covered, until cold, at least 2 hours. Just before serving, stir in mint.

ROASTED TOMATO AND RED BELL PEPPER SOUP

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450°F. Arrange tomatoes (cut side up), bell peppers, onion and garlic cloves on large baking sheet. Drizzle oil over; sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast vegetables until brown and tender, turning peppers and onion occasionally, about 40 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool.
• Transfer vegetables and any accumulated juices to processor. Add thyme leaves. Puree soup, gradually adding enough water to thin soup to desired consistency. Chill until cold, about 3 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated. If soup becomes too thick, thin with water to desired consistency.)
• Ladle soup into bowls. Top each with 1 tablespoon ricotta cheese. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

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!