4) Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Growing up as an unabashed carnivore, it took me a while to wrap my head around the concept of vegetarianism. I actively pitied my vegetarian friends in Chicago, Lara and Andrew. The reasons as to why anyone would willingly forgo the great joy of eating a perfectly-cooked steak, or a succulent piece of duck, or a luxurious lobster tail remained a mystery to me. In fact, I felt compelled to "cure" my friend Andrew with a standing offer to treat him to a famous Bleu Burger from the dimly-lit Moody's Pub, in the event that he desired to abandon the error or his meat-abstaining ways. He remained resolute, though I still wonder how. That was one tasty burger.
In recent years, I have found it harder to ignore the environmental and ethical arguments against eating meat, so I am thankful that I gained knowledge and experience in the ways of cooking vegetarian dishes from my Chicago pals. That insight has only grown, due to the fact that my brother-in-law Bryan/Rivers/Jonas is also a practicing vegetarian, giving me greater occasion to cook without meat and meat byproducts. All of that has taught me that vegetarian cooking can easily yield hearty and satisfying dishes, so much so that I have greatly reduced my own meat consumption as a result.
A word on the roasted red peppers: I have made the soup with peppers that I blistered and roasted myself, both over an open flame and in the oven. I could not discern any difference in the overall taste of the soup between employing those more laborious methods of achieving roasted peppers (which, granted, are much higher in cooking street-cred) and simply opening a jar of Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Peppers. Plus it's much cheaper to do the latter.
A word on fresh herbs: there is huge difference between using fresh herbs and dried herbs in terms of flavor. The former offer vibrancy and subtlety, while the latter often seem stale, seasoning with brute force. I never go to the grocery store without buying fresh herbs, and for my money, the best value is to be had in the "poultry pack," which contains fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary. I've even seen a blend humorously called "Scarborough Fair," containing fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. The extra two or three dollars will be well-spent, trust me.
A word on the blending methodology: I like my soups to have a luxuriously smooth and velvety texture, and am willing to work for it, as you'll see below (I blend the soup three or four times before serving). Straining and re-blending the courser elements achieves that, though if you're satisfied with a more hearty texture, you can skip steps 7-9.
Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons of butter
-1/4 cup of finely chopped shallots (about 3 average-sized shallots)
-1/2 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped, seeds removed (unless you want a really spicy soup)
-2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 12 oz. jar of fire roasted red (or red & yellow) peppers, chopped
-1 tablespoon of finely chopped thyme
-1 tablespoon of finely chopped rosemary leaves (pulled from the stem, which you should discard)
-1 tablespoon of finely chopped sage leaves
-1 32 oz. carton of vegetable broth (or more, if you like your soup thinner)
-1 organic lemon, zested and juiced
-3 15 oz. cans of Cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed
-salt and pepper, to taste
-1/4 cup of slivered almonds
Cooking Instructions:
1) Melt the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat, then add the shallots. You want them to cook gently, soaking up the butter, for about five minutes or until translucent. You don't want them to brown.
2) In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped jalapeño and cook for 2 minutes, and then add the minced garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
3) Add the chopped roasted peppers and fresh herbs, and cook for about 3 more minutes.
4) Pour the vegetable stock into the pot, along with the lemon juice, lemon zest, rinsed Cannellini beans, and sauteed shallots. Add salt (maybe a teaspoon) and plenty of fresh-ground black pepper. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 45 minutes, thereby allowing the flavors to meld in the pot.
5) While the soup is simmering, toast the slivered almonds over medium-low heat in a dry pan until lightly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Once they have cooled, chop them.
6) After the soup has simmered for at least 45 minutes, remove from heat. Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the non-liquid ingredients to a blender (if you only have a small food processor, you'll need to do this is small batches), then add two or three ladles-worth of liquid (unless you're intent on skipping the next two steps, in which case you can blend everything in the pot). Blend on high, adding more liquid if necessary.
7) Set a large metal sieve over a large bowl, and gradually pour the contents of the blender into the sieve, using the bottom of your ladle to encourage the soup to pass through the mesh more quickly.
8) Once all the liquid has been extracted, return the sieve-full of pulp to the blender, ladle in some more liquid, and reblend.
9) Repeat step 7.
10) Return the blended and strained soup along with the remaining pulp to the original cooking pot and if necessary, reheat to serving temperature. Stir until the pulp is fully incorporated. Dish it up, top with toasted almonds, eat, and enjoy.
Till next time.
In recent years, I have found it harder to ignore the environmental and ethical arguments against eating meat, so I am thankful that I gained knowledge and experience in the ways of cooking vegetarian dishes from my Chicago pals. That insight has only grown, due to the fact that my brother-in-law Bryan/Rivers/Jonas is also a practicing vegetarian, giving me greater occasion to cook without meat and meat byproducts. All of that has taught me that vegetarian cooking can easily yield hearty and satisfying dishes, so much so that I have greatly reduced my own meat consumption as a result.
A word on the roasted red peppers: I have made the soup with peppers that I blistered and roasted myself, both over an open flame and in the oven. I could not discern any difference in the overall taste of the soup between employing those more laborious methods of achieving roasted peppers (which, granted, are much higher in cooking street-cred) and simply opening a jar of Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Peppers. Plus it's much cheaper to do the latter.
A word on fresh herbs: there is huge difference between using fresh herbs and dried herbs in terms of flavor. The former offer vibrancy and subtlety, while the latter often seem stale, seasoning with brute force. I never go to the grocery store without buying fresh herbs, and for my money, the best value is to be had in the "poultry pack," which contains fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary. I've even seen a blend humorously called "Scarborough Fair," containing fresh parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. The extra two or three dollars will be well-spent, trust me.
A word on the blending methodology: I like my soups to have a luxuriously smooth and velvety texture, and am willing to work for it, as you'll see below (I blend the soup three or four times before serving). Straining and re-blending the courser elements achieves that, though if you're satisfied with a more hearty texture, you can skip steps 7-9.
Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons of butter
-1/4 cup of finely chopped shallots (about 3 average-sized shallots)
-1/2 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped, seeds removed (unless you want a really spicy soup)
-2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 12 oz. jar of fire roasted red (or red & yellow) peppers, chopped
-1 tablespoon of finely chopped thyme
-1 tablespoon of finely chopped rosemary leaves (pulled from the stem, which you should discard)
-1 tablespoon of finely chopped sage leaves
-1 32 oz. carton of vegetable broth (or more, if you like your soup thinner)
-1 organic lemon, zested and juiced
-3 15 oz. cans of Cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed
-salt and pepper, to taste
-1/4 cup of slivered almonds
Cooking Instructions:
1) Melt the butter in a small pan over medium-low heat, then add the shallots. You want them to cook gently, soaking up the butter, for about five minutes or until translucent. You don't want them to brown.
2) In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped jalapeño and cook for 2 minutes, and then add the minced garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.
3) Add the chopped roasted peppers and fresh herbs, and cook for about 3 more minutes.
4) Pour the vegetable stock into the pot, along with the lemon juice, lemon zest, rinsed Cannellini beans, and sauteed shallots. Add salt (maybe a teaspoon) and plenty of fresh-ground black pepper. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for at least 45 minutes, thereby allowing the flavors to meld in the pot.
5) While the soup is simmering, toast the slivered almonds over medium-low heat in a dry pan until lightly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Once they have cooled, chop them.
6) After the soup has simmered for at least 45 minutes, remove from heat. Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the non-liquid ingredients to a blender (if you only have a small food processor, you'll need to do this is small batches), then add two or three ladles-worth of liquid (unless you're intent on skipping the next two steps, in which case you can blend everything in the pot). Blend on high, adding more liquid if necessary.
7) Set a large metal sieve over a large bowl, and gradually pour the contents of the blender into the sieve, using the bottom of your ladle to encourage the soup to pass through the mesh more quickly.
8) Once all the liquid has been extracted, return the sieve-full of pulp to the blender, ladle in some more liquid, and reblend.
9) Repeat step 7.
10) Return the blended and strained soup along with the remaining pulp to the original cooking pot and if necessary, reheat to serving temperature. Stir until the pulp is fully incorporated. Dish it up, top with toasted almonds, eat, and enjoy.
Till next time.
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