I make vats of this when red bell peppers are on sale and freeze them for days when I’m too busy (read: lazy) to cook. I love a hot bowl of this soup with a grilled cheese or fried egg sandwich. If you don’t have the time or inclination to roast and peel fresh bell peppers, you can use the pre-roasted, peeled, and jarred peppers, which you will find on the same shelf as the canned tomatoes. This is also a great way to use up that leftover wine from last night, or a good excuse to open another bottle! Chilled leftovers can be served over ice with Tito’s Handmade Vodka and fresh-squeezed lemon juice for a killer bloody mary.

The How-To

If you’re going to roast your fresh peppers (practice makes perfect), do so first. While the peppers are steaming their little black skins off, you can get the rest of the soup simmering.

In a large pot with aheavy bottom (I use my dutch oven), saute onion and garlic over medium heat with a pinch of salt in olive oil until soft. Add tomatoes with juice from can, and break the tomatoes up into smaller chunks with a wooden spoon. Add your roasted,peeled peppers, along with the rest of the ingredients, and bring to a boil. If you’re using the jarred kind, definitely pour in the juice from the jar. Reduce heat to low, and simer about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool 5 minutes.

At this point, you can either blend it all together in the same pot with a hand-held immersion blender, or transfer it in batches to a standing blender or food processor and puree one batch at a time. Be sure not to fill the blender/food processor more than 2/3 or you might end up with soup all over you and your kitchen. When texture of soup is smooth, ladel into bowls and serve hot.

Variations on a Theme

If you’re like my mom and prefer your soup a little more on the creamy bisque side, but don’t want the calories and cholesterol of all the butter and cream that come with it, we can help:

After your soup is blended and smooth, return it to the pot over lowest heat, and whisk in 2 cups organic full-fat (which is still not that much compared to cream) sour cream at room temperature. It is important that the soup does not simmer or boil once the sour cream is added or else it will separate, and you don’t want to go there.