Pepper Soup

Pepper Soup

I haven’t made any soups recently and since one of my New Year’s resolutions is to make more soups (and eat them), I figured today would be a good day for that.  As I was reviewing the produce I had, I noticed that some of the bell peppers were starting to look like a Shar Pei and a few random roasted peppers in a jar could be used up too.  So, Pepper Soup to the rescue!  I remembered seeing a fairly easy recipe by Bal Arneson on the Cooking Channel, but there were a few ingredients I didn’t have (I’m not driving across town for 1 tsp of asafotida, especially when I don’t even know what it is).  Thus, I decided to use the recipe as inspiration and do my own thing.  I used an orange pepper as well (or it would have spoiled) and added a couple of potatoes (Yukon Gold variety is fairly creamy and it’ll add creaminess to the soup without actual cream or extra fat and calories).

Ingredients:
1 TB oil
1 medium-large onion, diced
3 medium garlic cloves
1 TSP Maharaja Curry spice mix (from Penseys) or your favorite curry spice mix
1/2 TSP Spanish Smoked Paprika
1/4 TSP Chipotle
3-4 bell peppers, roughly chopped (I used a combination of red, orange, and roasted red from a jar)
2 medium potatoes, roughly chopped
Salt, pepper (to taste)
Cumin, coriander (to taste, optional)
4 cups of stock (less if you’d like a thicker soup)

Steps:
1. Saute the onions and garlic for about 5-7 minutes, till they get soft and translucent.
2. Add spices and saute for another 5-10 minutes. Add salt and pepper.
3. Add peppers and let cook for about 10 minutes, stirring so the onions don’t stick (if the start sticking, add a little water).
4. Add stock and potatoes. Let come to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook till the potatoes are fork-tender (maybe 20-25 minutes).
5. Use an immersion blender to whir it up to a smooth and creamy consistency. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender.

Shar Pei-looking pepper

Onions, garlic, spices

Onions and spices sauteing

Peppers added to onions

Potatoes added to peppers

Stock added to veggies

Pepper Soup