Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Tomato & Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup


"Carmageddon" has officially hit Louisville.  While probably not as drastic as the major traffic that was caused in Los Angeles - but definitely something that perturbs me.  I love Louisville for the fact that it doesn't have 'major city traffic'.  Sure, we have crazy rush hour, but nothing compared to cities like LA, New York, or even Nashville.

Until last Friday.  The Sherman-Minton bridge was closed "indefinitely" due to some cracks found in some foundation beams.  While yes, safety is priority - it has put Louisville (and most parts of Southern Indiana - as the bridge connects New Albany, IN to Louisville) in a traffic tizzy, because now everything has to filter through to the other bridge (The Kennedy) - adding about 76,000 more cars that way.  And don't even get me started on the stupid detours.  My normal 20-25 minutes commute to work took a little over an hour today.  Yeah, I wasn't in a good mood.  But surprisingly enough, my commute home was more of normal pace, about 30 minutes.  I'll just have to think smarter for tomorrow's drive in.

Now that I've got my rant out of the way (I'm sure you all just wanted to hear about my traffic annoyances, right?) - let me tell you about something that calms me down... soup.  Yes, soup.  Now that fall has set in, soup will be a regular occurrence in our house - at least weekly.  And this week's soup?  This wonderful tomato and roasted red pepper soup.  Perfect for dipping grilled cheese!

Ingredients: 
Adapted from Sea Salt With Food's recipe


2 Red Bell Peppers
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion, peeled and diced

3 Cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped

2 Heirloom Tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 tablespoons Tomato Paste
small handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
4 cups chicken stock
1 & 1/2 teaspoons Cumin
1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Sour Cream

Croutons

Broil red peppers under a broiler or open flame on gas stove until charred on all sides.  Place red peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Set aside until cool enough to handle.  Peel, remove seeds, and roughly chop.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven.  Add onion and garlic.  Cook until soft and translucent but not brown in color, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then turn the heat on high and mix in the tomatoes, tomato paste, peppers, cilantro, cumin, and paprika. Sauté the mixture for a minute or 2, and add the chicken stock.  Bring mixture to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 to 40 minutes.

Allow the soup mixture to cool slightly, then puree it with an immersion blender. Bring the soup back to the boil and season with some salt and pepper. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, some croutons, and a grilled cheese sandwich (if you're the dipping kind of gal like me!)



This was super tasty, made great use of our CSA tomatoes, and will be a soup that paired perfectly with a simple grilled cheese!


Hope you guys have a great Tuesday!  See you tomorrow night!

38 comments:

  1. Good luck with carmageddon!
    I love the taste combo of tomato and red pepper---this sounds awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The soup looks delicious! I used to work in downtown Jacksonville - I lived 25 miles from my work and it took me SEVENTY minutes every day (each way) to get to work. Needless to say, I didn't work there long! The drive was a burn out!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Peggy this looks excellent and just in time for this beautiful fall weather. :)
    Laura @ A Healthy Jalapeño

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the intense red color of your soup!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This one of die for soup. i am going to try them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Every time I pop by I grin at your header pictures. You guys are so cute. Love this recipe. My hubs would love this one. I am not a soup gal but he loves it. Sorry about carmageddon!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ugh! I hate traffic! I have no patience for it! But, this soup looks like the perfect way to unwind! I am going to add this to my fall soup recipes!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Do not get me started with New York City traffic!! Let me just say that my usual drive to work is 20-35 mins on a no traffic day. These past 2 days, for some unknown reason, the city will like to spend there time blocking 2 of the 3 roads on the parkway, and my drive to and from work take more than 2 hours! Freaking crap-o-la!
    The soup recipe looks awesome! I've never made homemade soup before, and hope to start! =]

    ReplyDelete
  9. U know Peggy, this is one of my fave soups! It's simple, yet so appetizing. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ugh I hate traffic too! I grew up in Houston where the traffic is famous for being horrible. But on a happier note, this looks soooo amazing! Holy yum!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Beautiful colored soup, again my hubby will finish everything in the bowl if I make it at home.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Until you hear the consequences, it is hard to fathom how much difference in everyone's life a bridge can make. Wow. This will become a go-to recipe this fall for sure. Thanks for the idea.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Peggy, that looks appetizing. The taste must be a bit spicy which will suit with my kind of soup.

    ReplyDelete
  14. OH! I can totally imagine dipping a perfectly grilled gruyere sammich in this beautiful soup! Sounds delicious! As for the traffic...I can dig the 'traffic tizzy.' There's only one road into West Bay and only one road out to East End so you're pretty much stuck on your way into town in Cayman. Of course, I go to work at 11am so I get to avoid the 20 minute wait time :) Buzzed!

    ReplyDelete
  15. My all time favourite soup; thank you for sharing your special recipe; I can almost taste the goodness.
    Rita

    ReplyDelete
  16. I hate trafic,in jakarta indonesia,its make me sick,that why i move to the state LoL,,,kidding,but yeah i don't like trafic :)
    btw,,,this recipe is great,i have alot of tomato right now,so i will try this recipe for sure, i try tomato with basil before,,,so red pepper is next :)
    Ridwan

    ReplyDelete
  17. That looks delicious! I tried to make roasted tomato soup a few weeks ago, and it was an utter fail. I think I need to try your recipe! re: the traffic, that must be a major annoyance. I hate traffic AND commuting, so I definitely empathize.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Roasted tomato soup does sound divine. Sometimes it is the simple fresh flavor that we crave. I will need to try this! It is nice that you are in an area that has CSA-nothing like fresh ingredients.

    ReplyDelete
  19. One of my coworkers was telling me about that bridge being closed. I'm sure that has made for some lovely traffic jams!

    I love mixing roasted red peppers into tomato soup. Yum! And you're right, perfect for dipping grilled cheese (: I saw a recipe once for grilled cheese croutons - um, perfection!

    ReplyDelete
  20. This looks so delicious. I would love to give this a try. Hopefully your commute gets better.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I've never thought to put cilantro in a tomato soup! It looks really amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Looks amazing!!! Never ever imagined bell pepper in a soup! :D
    -
    Kavi |
    Edible Entertainment

    ReplyDelete
  23. I hat traffic!! One of my biggest pet peeves, is having to deal with traffic! This soup would be a nice calming thing to come home too though!

    ReplyDelete
  24. No one likes traffic jams and I am lucky to say I don’t hardly ever sit in one. I’m happy fall kicked in…so many good hearty soups. This one sounds amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  25. This sounds so mouthwatering Peggy. I'm so ready for these kinds of recipes. I love the combo of peppers and tomatoes!

    ReplyDelete
  26. hi. thank you for your comment on my grape muffins:)

    ooh this soup sounds comforting and wonderful. I love soup too and one good thing about getting fall/winter is we can enjoy lots of comforting soup!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Creamy rich soup!! Vibrant color! Just yummy :)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Yum! I will definitely be saving this for a nice cool day.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Yummm. Looks so good! Great pictures and loving your recipe!

    ReplyDelete
  30. I'm not even in a major city and the traffic has become such a pain in the you know what. It makes my BP rise just thinking about it!

    I have never had a roasted red pepper soup, but I really want to try it! I am sure its wonderful! Yours looks and sounds amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Mmm, that looks and sounds really good!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Hi! Just found this post via Pinterest. Soup looks amazing! I'm from LA, and find it funny that other areas have had a 'carmageddon'! We just experienced 'Carmageddon 2' :) I look forward to making this soup soon!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Curious...why the major difference between the amount of tomatoes in the original recipe and the adaptation? Sounds wonderful and want to try it but....confused. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The original recipe used roma tomatoes - I had local heirloom tomatoes (that were pretty large in comparison) - hence the difference. Feel free to use whatever type of tomatoes you have available though =)

      Delete
  34. I made it w/the approximate amount of tomatoes from the 'sea salt' recipe (allowing for grams vs oz conversion...lol...sheeeez) and the rest ALL you. I'm eating the last of the leftovers now. It was/is awesome. Just joined your new blog! Thank you so much.

    Jodie

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails