Spicy red pepper and tomato soup

Serves:

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 roast red peppers, peeled (see Notes below)
• 2 x tins diced tomatoes
• 4 tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
• 1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• natural yoghurt
• 1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped (garnsih)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook on a moderate heat until transluscent.

Add red pepper, fresh and tinned tomatoes, chili and stock.

Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 mins.

Take off the heat and puree until smooth. Season to taste.

To serve, add a dollop of the natural yoghurt and chopped coriander to the top of the hot soup.

Notes

• To roast red peppers, cut each pepper in half and remove the membrane and seeds. Place face down on a baking tray and lightly coat each pepper half with olive oil. Roast in a moderate oven for approx. 30 mins, or until the skin is going black and/or blistered. Remove from the oven and place the hot peppers into a plastic bag. Close the bag and leave the peppers to sweat as they cool. When cool to the touch, the skin should be easy to remove.
• I will admit that this soup is usually minus the ‘Spicy’ when I make it for the family – my kids don’t like even the tiniest hint of chili! So I am reduced to adding chili flakes to the finished soup. Very sad…
• If you aren’t a strict vegetarian, you could use chicken stock instead of vegetable – I find that chicken stock bolsters the flavours of the vegetables a little more.
• Be sure to resist the urge to season the soup until after you have blended it. Somehow, the blended soup always tastes more salty. Odd but true!
• This Spicy red pepper and tomato soup was created by Ella Walsh for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Serving Suggestions

Note