Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup
Soup, Soup, Soup
Soups are here to stay. It’s almost like our bodies know they need warmer food to deal with the colder weather. It’s like I’m constantly craving soup or stews these days. Whenever I’m thinking of a new recipe it comes in the form of either a stew or a soup. What can I say the body knows what it wants. So, last week when I got a box of tomatoes I was sold. I simply had to make a tomato soup before the season is over. Instead of roasting the tomatoes this time I decided to roast the peppers to add to it. And since we are adding peppers we might as well add a little heat to it. Just a little bit red chili flakes will do the trick. To balance out the strong flavors I add just a little bit of coconut cream to the bowl when serving.
Tomato Soup
We are so used to having tomatoes year-round now that we don’t pay attention to what is in season anymore. Technically tomatoes grow from May through October. Specially here in Holland you can get tomatoes all year long. But that doesn’t mean we should be eating it all year long. I’ve undergone quite a transformation during this tomato season. At the start I didn’t care for tomatoes at all. But I discovered the more you know, the more you can enjoy it. So, I found different types of tomatoes and their uses. Discovered which one I like better and also went to Italy and bought myself some extremely deliciously sweet tomatoes. To complement the sweetness of the tomatoes I decided to roast the bell peppers for a little smokey flavor to the soup.
Dealing with Nightshades
This soup contains a lot of nightshades as we are using both tomatoes, bell peppers and chili flakes. Of course if you have an intolerance for nightshades you shouldn’t be making and eating this soup. It’s that simple. This is not a case of you could possibly substitute this with that. Just don’t eat it. However, if you can manage it I would advise to peel the tomatoes or strain the soup to remove the skin. It’s an extra step but it helps your body process the tomato better. The harmful element alkaloid is mostly found in the skin of the tomato. So it’s definitely worth the extra step.
Roasted Pepper and Tomato Soup
Equipment
- Immersion Blender
Ingredients
- 5-6 bell pepper red
- 800 gram tomato chopped
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 750 ml broth
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1-2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp tapioca flour
- Black pepper to taste
- Coconut cream for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C.
- Place bell peppers on a baking tray and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Place peppers in the oven for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes turn peppers to the other side for another 20 minutes. They should be slightly charred and soft.
- Set aside and once the cool a bit you can remove the stem and seeds from the inside.
- While the peppers are cooling you can start making the soup. Melt the coconut oil in a large pot and add the onions. Cook them until translucent 7-10 minutes.
- Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 30 seconds before adding the chopped tomatoes.
- Cook for another 5-7 minutes before adding the broth with oregano, bay leaf, roasted peppers, red chili flakes and apple cider vinegar.
- Cover the pot and set to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove bay leaf and blend with immersion blender.
- Optional step, pass soup through a sieve to get a completely smooths soup with no tomato skins. Or remove the tomato skins before you start cooking.
- In a small bowl mix tapioca flour with 1 tbsp water and add to the soup whisk together and continue cooking until it has thickened up.
- Serve with fresh coconut cream and oregano.