red pepper soup
I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. You see, I’ve told you about a lot of soups–I mean, a lot of soups–but I haven’t gotten to share with you this awesome red pepper soup I plucked from the New York Times nearly two years ago because I started this site just a little bit past pepper season.
So, for ten months, I have tap-tap-tapped my feet until peak peck-o-pepper-picking time came round again and I could tell you about what a find this soup really was. And yesterday, yesterday when I hadn’t planned to make dinner because I was tired and completely uninspired, on the way home it hit me that there is no more legitimate time of year to buy pepper than the present, and suddenly I was enticed into cooking again. So, I swung into Garden of Eden–which by the way, charges the same atrocious prices for bell peppers whether they’re in season or not–got the two ingredients I didn’t already have and burst into the apartment with a “Ta-da!” and a “Guess what!” and a “I finally get to make the red pepper soup tonight!”
People, you should have seen my one-and-only’s face. Tears of joy? Relief that he’d been saved from take-out boxes? Excitement that we were going to eat one of the best soups in my repertoire? Nope, didn’t happen, not even close. His expression was flat. Zero reaction. And then he said, “Couldn’t you just pickle them instead?”
What a pain in the peck. I mean, what does he think it is, like 95 degrees outside and not soup weather or something? Yawn. Really, can you tell me why people will eat cooked dishes and panini sandwiches and–this is the hardest for me to bear witness to–large, hot coffees in the most scorching days in July but if you suggest soup, they act like you’re smoking the hoochie pipe?
So we ordered Thai food, which I may add is way warmer and heavier than soup, but tonight, as you may have guessed, I didn’t let anybody, even the one who washes the dishes (and carries the heavy groceries and always brings me water when I’m thirsty and, well now, I’m feeling kinda guilty, great!) talk me out of it.
I hope you appreciate what mountains I have to climb, what setbacks I have to overcome, what adversity I must persevere in the face of to share with you these beloved recipes. But even if you don’t, and really, that’s cool, I’ll just go pout in the corner for a while I’M NOT MAD, I do hope you try this soup, because I’ve owed it to you for ten months plus one day in now and I still think it was worth the wait.
Red Pepper Soup
New York Times 9/21/05
Total time: 45 minutes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/4 cup sliced onions
3 large cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup dry white wine
12 large red bell peppers, cut in 1-inch pieces
2 cups no-salt-added chicken or vegetable stock or broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
Salt and white pepper
Creme fraiche for garnish
Thyme sprigs for garnish.
1. Put oil in large pot. Add onion when oil is hot. Cook onions until they begin to soften and take on color. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add wine and cook down quickly, until about 1 tablespoon is left.
2. Add peppers, stock, thyme and red pepper flakes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until peppers are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. In food processor or blender, puree mixture in batches until smooth. Adjust seasonings.
4. Cover and chill overnight or for as long as 2 days or freeze (whisk well before serving if thawed). Can also be served warm.
5. Serve in demitasse cups or soup bowls, topped with a dab of creme fraiche and a tiny sprig of thyme.
Yield: Makes six large servings, 12 demitasse size.
Peter Griffin voice: Ohhhh yeah, that soup is happening for real!
Dorky question: How long can this be frozen? Here in TX, it’s not exactly soup season (heck, it’s not “cooking” season, who am I kidding) but maybe making this now and freezing it for that one cold day in January when I think, “hey, homemade soup would be great for the next 5 minutes” would be viable.
Please advise, thanks! And thanks for sharing, as always.
This looks delicious! I love the use of fresh thyme.
Oh. My. Gawd.
I only found your site last week, and I have already bookmarked it and read through every post in the archives. Obsessed much? Ok, yeah, I guess so. Love food…love to cook, eat and read about it. So much so that I just started my own blog today. And I check in here just before heading off to bed and what do I see? A red pepper soup recipe…oh glorious red peppers…with that lovely ruby red color and sweet and sharp flavor. My fav soup ever. Bless you, bless you, bless you!!! :: making plans to purchase said peppers for tomorrow night’s dinner ::
Wow, this looks awesome! I have been eating bell peppers nonstop, and have made your black bean confetti salad a couple of times in the last few weeks. :) Fish tacos, too.
Come visit St. Louis, we have awesome bell peppers and they’ve been on sale 2 for $3. Yeay!
A tasty variation is to roast the peppers under the broiler before you use them. I made a very similar recipe a while back that was in a chicken broth ad in Donna Hay magazine (one thing I love about Donna Hay; even the ads are inspiring), served it in demitasse cups with creme fraiche and a basil leaf and called it an amuse bouche.
Thanks for the reminder to make it again!
wow that soup has a ton of peppers in it. you’ve definitely convinced me it’s something i should try though!
Just when I was wondering about what to do with the bell peppers I’ve had lying around, waiting all week, you come around and offer me this. It must be faith.
Would this be good with green peppers too? I know the color would be a little off-putting, but they are much more readily-available at the farmers market near me. To get 12 decent ones I would have better luck with green, but would that ruin the soup?
12 peppers! That’s a lot of peppers.
The pepper plant growing on my deck (aka fire escape) just had their first harvest and have plenty more blooms, so you’ve got a whole lot more of pepper season to look forward to. Too bad mine are all purple, not red.
Mmmm.. this looks wonderful!! I love peppers. I love them in any form and in any color - i accept pepper of all shades - equal opportunity and all. Do you think that if I make this with yellow, orange AND red peppers it’ll look pretty??
Personally I could eat soup year round. Maybe not heavy cream laden chowders, but I can totally do vegetable and broth soups everyday. I think living in Florida kind of made me immune to it because that thing you northerns call “fall”, well in Florida we call that winter, and it really doesn’t stick around too long. Also it rains ALOT here, so those are the days the chowder gets pulled out.
Ethan — I think most soups are good in the freezer for at least three months. Perhaps even six, if well-sealed and nice and cold. I’m hoping others who freeze more will jump in and advise as well.
Amy — I am sure it wouldn’t ruin the soup at all. In fact, I’ve often wanted to try an all purple, orange or yellow one, whichever peppers I can find. Just don’t burn the roof of your mouth eating it the night before a dentist appointment, as I have learned the hard way so nobody else has to!
Radish — I am sure it would be. You could even throw in a hot one, for a little surprise!
We’ve got bushels of PURPLE peppers at the farm and I’m wondering how this soup might look with them… I’ve got to try! But there’s something so alluring and down-right-velvety-looking about the bright red hue of yours. And, Deb, you’re photography skills are just so darn good now that you have a proper lens that I’m sure that contributes to the visual drool factor too.
One final thought - when it’s too hot to cook, I fall back on Trader Joe’s roasted red pepper and tomoato soup… it’s *almost* (but not quite) as good as homemade.
Ah, I love Red Pepper soup! A dear friend of mine, who is a fantastic cook, counts this same recipe as a “most requested” in her repertoire. Being from Maryland, however, she tops the soup with a small heap of fresh lump crabmeat. Talk about divine!
Deb, thanks so much for your glorious website. Your pictures are breathtaking, and every post inspires me to get into the kitchen.
Any time is a good time for soup, and that looks and sounds just gorgeous!
That looks lucious! As always, great pictures!
To complicated. Maybe you will bring me a tupperware cup of soup tonight? Lauren & I can have it tomorrow morning.
Yellow bells would be awesome for this soup! Yummy!!!!!!!!
Those photos are simply gorgeous. You have outdone even some of your past best work.
I make a wonderful corn and red pepper soup that tastes fabulous in high summer when fresh corn is in season (in MN, its every reason to be reverent right about now) and I have no problem eating soup in warm weather. Lighter soups are a treat when it’s hot. Call me crazy.
Looks deeeeelish. I didn’t actually know there *was* a pepper season, but then I’m from California. I also REALLY love the NY Times Gazpacho recipe. Super messy, but really great. It’s in the current NY Times cookbook, but I couldn’t find it online. It’s really tomatoey and cucumbery.
If it’s anything like this soup http://www.amazon.com/Pacific-Natural-Foods-Organic-16-Ounce/dp/B000LKU1TO
then I am so there. That stuff is amazing.
peppers are my favourite. this looks delicious.
Hi Deb,
I’m new here(your blog) I love the site…but wished it had a printer friendly format. When I have printed out your recipes they come out so small…lol
Take care
Hi Deb! I love your site it’s great, I’ve been reading it for a bit and have even tried some of the recipes! (Yummy by the way.) :)
I’m looking for a really great cupcake recipe. I’m making them for my 18th birthday instead of cake and since your blog is basically food heaven, I was wondering if you knew of any good ones?
thanks!
Shannon
Greg — Coming soon! It’s true. I’m finally working on some updates to the site, and that is one of them. In the meanwhile, not sure if it will translate to your printer from your browser or not, but Control and the (+) sign will increase the font size, Control and (-) will decrease. Highlighting just the recipe and then choosing “Print” from the pull-down menu (if on a PC, I don’t speak Mac yet) and “this selection” will allow you to avoid printing all the comments, text and huge photos. You probably know all this, but this is for anyone out there who might say “ah-ha!” upon reading it.
Shannon — Vanilla or chocolate cupcakes? For the chocolate, I’d definitely use the recipe in the post before this. As for vanilla, I have yet to hit my vanilla cupcake nirvana, but I liked this one alright. Next time I’m looking for one, however, I’m rereading this post on Cupcake Blog first, as she compares Martha Stewart’s, Magnolia Bakeshop’s and Amy Sedaris’s cupcake recipes. I’ve used the Magnolia recipe with a high success rate. I’ve also hear good things about Clare Crespo’s basic recipe.
When I was hanging out with some friends the other night, a debate ensued about hot weather and hot food items and who wouldn’t eat them… I’ve decided officially that everyone is crazy, myself included. Some people don’t drink hot coffee, some don’t eat soup and some people never drink coffee cold and refuse to eat soup in the summer AND some people don’t like soup at all, which is probably the only picky food preference I would ever discriminate against. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! That looks delicious, such a vibrant colour. I wouldn’t turn it down however hot the weather was.
That looks fantastic. A slight variation that I’ve been served: make two soups, one from red pepper, one from green or yellow. They’re thick enough so that it’s possible to s.l.o.w.l.y. ladle first the one, then the other into soup bowls together for a yin-yangy serving.
Jennie — I think I saw that on Epicurious once! But, and this is just from memory, I believe that soup had a lot of heavy cream in it, so I always find myself going back to this one, where I never notice a lack of creaminess. But it sure sounded pretty.
Another variation would be to use yellow bell peppers, which I think are the most flavorful. Try some cilantro instead of thyme (if you like cilantro). Add about a tsp of lemon zest. This makes a refreshing, almost “cool” tasting soup. Panda Curry
I’m so sorry I’m back-posting (I just made that up), but I haven’t been checking the site out much and it’s only because I’m far from home and my computer. Otherwise I check it religiously each day. This soup is so great looking and is definitely on my list of things to cook when I go home.
I made this soup last night for a dinner party I had, and let me tell you….it was a success like nothing I have ever made before. All six of my guests wanted seconds, and the entire pot was empty in no time! Thanks for a fantastic, wonderfully simple and fresh recipe that made me look like a pro!
I’d love to try this recipe, but as a German I have difficulties with my translation.
Does “for as long as 2 days” mean that I have to keep it in the fridge for two days (aka “at least two days” before eating) or at maximum “up to two days”?
The pictures look fantastic.
Hi Balu — Ha, I can assure you that wasn’t good English on the recipe-writer’s part, either. Yes, it means it is good in the fridge for up to two days, (but you can eat it right away, too). The recipe was just trying to give you an idea of what could be made ahead to save you time. Hope that helps!
What does it mean when a receipe says 1/2 red pepper, cracked?
Do you think that I could use jarred, red peppers for this recipe instead of fresh? This time of year, fresh are hard, and expensive, to come by! Thanks!
Hi Kayla — I haven’t tried it with jarred ones, so can’t give it my vote of confidence. However, I find the quality of frozen peppers–especially from Cascadian Farms and other brands I find at Whole Foods–to be excellent. I am sure you could use those and get good summer flavor out of the soup.