Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup

It's a soupy week for us starting with a simple Tomato and Carrot soup yesterday and a little exotic Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup. While the name sounds very exotic, there is actually nothing much to it. All you need is to roast the red peppers on stove top or in the oven, just like you do for brinjal, and then the rest of the procedure is a cake walk. I enjoyed this delicious and mildly spiced bell pepper soup with some herbed garlic pinwheels, freshly baked in the oven. Fresh bread and soup is such a lovely combination, don't you think?

Ingredients

4 stout red bell peppers

1 medium onion, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, chopped

2-3 stems of parsley, chopped

1 russet potato, chopped (you can use regular potato as well)

1 tsp basil and oregano mixed

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 tsp or more of low fat sour cream/regular cream

3 cups chicken or vegetable stock

1 tbsp olive oil

Direction

Wash and clean the bell peppers and roast them on stove top on medium heat until charred from all sides. Remove from heat and keep in a bowl and tightly close the lid. Let it remain for 10 minutes or more (I kept it for more than 2 hours as I was away for some work). Now gently rub off the charred skin cleanly and remove the seeds and stem and chop it into small chunks.

In a deep bottomed vessel, heat the oil and add the garlic and onions and fry till translucent. Now add the parsley, potatoes, chopped bell peppers, and the herbed spices. Stir for a while and then add the chicken stock. Bring it to a boil and cover and cook on a medium flame till potatoes are tender. Now remove from heat and let it cool. You can either use a hand blender or a mixie and blend the soup for a few pulses. Now put it back on the pan and season with salt and pepper. Add the cream and stir. Remove from heat and serve hot.