Mm mm good.

Silky roasted yellow pepper soup
Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Vegetarian recipes from recently released cookbooks:

"Soup's On!" by Leslie Jonath and Frankie Frankeny (Chronicle Books, 2007)

Food writers and chefs contribute their favorite soups for this celebration of the first course. Here's your chance to perfect your vegetarian stock and learn a few tricks about blending vegetable flavors.

-- Evelyn Shih
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Silky roasted yellow pepper soup

* 4 to 5 meaty yellow bell peppers, tops sliced off, cores and seeds removed but reserved
* 2 tablespoons finely diced raw bell peppers, different colors
* Olive oil, as needed
* 1 small red onion, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
* Vinegar, such as chardonnay, sherry or balsamic
* Soup stock (see below)

Preheat the broiler and position a rack about 8 inches beneath the broiling unit.

Cut the peppers in half, lengthwise, and flatten them. Brush the skins with oil and place them skin-side up on a baking sheet.

Broil only until the skin is bubbling, puckering and light brown. Put them in a bowl, cover, and leave them to steam for at least 15 minutes.

Heat 1½ tablespoons of oil in a soup pot. Add the onion and cook over low heat while you peel the peppers. Pull or scrape off as much skin as you can, then chop and add the peppers to the pot as you go, along with ½ teaspoon salt and the soup stock.

Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Cool slightly, then puree in batches.

Taste for salt and add a few drops of vinegar to bring everything together. Serve with a spoonful of the diced peppers scattered over each bowl.

Servings: 4 to 6.
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Soup stock

* 2 teaspoons olive oil
* 1 small onion, sliced
* Cores and trimmings from bell peppers
* 1 small zucchini, chopped
* 1 small carrot, chopped
* 1 large tomato, halved
* 1 pinch fresh thyme
* Fresh basil sprigs or leaves
* Sea salt

Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat, add the onion and the pepper cores, zucchini, carrot and tomatoes as you slice them, along with the thyme, basil and a scant teaspoon of sea salt.

When the onion has some color, add 5 cups of water, bring to a boil, then simmer partially covered for about 25 minutes. Strain and discard the solids.

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.