Inspiration: After all of the rush of the holidays and a busy end to 2009, one of the things that I’ve been enjoying in 2010 is having some time at home on the weekends. I’ve gotten into the habit of making B and I a batch of soup on Saturday or Sunday that we can take for lunches during the week. So I may be posting a few more soup recipes than usual from here on out, at least while it’s still winter!

What we Loved: I really enjoyed the simplicity of this soup and the subtlety of the flavor. If you haven’t had roasted bell peppers before, they taste completely different than raw bell peppers or even bell peppers that have been cooked in a different way. They have a very distinct and delicious charred flavor, and that’s exactly what this soup tasted like. It was rich with that pepper flavor and just a tiny touch of sweetness from the buttermilk. And I couldn’t help but think how healthy I was being as I ate a bowl of this vegetable-packed soup and a salad for lunch. 

Helpful Hints: I think that this soup would be great with a dollop of sour cream, as mentioned in the original recipe, or with some nice cubes of avocado and pepperjack cheese. Also, the original recipe called for the skins to be removed from the peppers after broiling, but I left them on so that they would give the soup even more of that roasted pepper flavor.

Roasted Pepper Soup
Source: A Good Appetite

I doubled this recipe and changed it just a bit to suit my tastes. Here’s the recipe as I made it.

6 large bell peppers (I used two red, two yellow, and two orange)
1 large jalapeno
Extra virgin olive oil
2 yellow onions, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt
3 stems thyme, stems removed
Pinch of red pepper flakes
5 cups vegetable or chicken stock (using vegetable stock to keep this recipe vegetarian)
2 cups milk or buttermilk (I used one cup of buttermilk and one cup of skim milk)

1. Preheat the broiler, and line a baking sheet with foil. Cut the bell peppers and the jalapeno in half, removing the stems and seeds. Place them on the foil, and broil until charred, about 10-15 minutes. Remove the peppers from the oven and let cool.

2. While the peppers are cooking, heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion, and saute until tender. Add the garlic, and cook for an additional minute. Add the salt, thyme, red pepper flakes, and broth, and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the peppers, and let cook for another 5-10 minutes.

4. Puree the soup with an immersion blender or in a food processor. Add the buttermilk/milk, and gently heat to serving temperature.