Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup With Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- For the vinaigrette:
- 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste For the soup
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 large russet potato (about 12 oz.), peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1 C. finely chopped onion
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 roasted red bell peppers
- 3 roasted yellow bell peppers
- 4 C. vegetable stock, divided
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Crème fraiche or sour cream and minced fresh chives for garnish
Directions
To make the vinaigrette, whisk together all the vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl. Season to taste. Set aside. To make the soup, heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the potato, onion, carrot, and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are crisp-tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer half of the vegetables to a large saucepan. Stir 2 C. of the vegetable stock into each pan. Coarsely chop the roasted bell peppers. Put the red bell peppers in one pot, the yellow bell peppers in the other. Increase the heat to high under both pots and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat; cover both pots and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 10 minutes.
Separately, purée the red bell pepper and the yellow bell pepper soups in a blender until smooth. Pour the soups into the two pots and reheat to serving temperature. Season to taste. To serve, using ½ C. measuring C., pour both soups into shallow wide bowls in two steady streams at the same time for a yin-yang look. Garnish with a drizzle of the vinaigrette, a generous sprinkling of chives, and a large dollop of crème fraîche. This soup will keep for up to 5 days in two separate covered containers (one for yellow, the other for the red pepper soup) in the refrigerator. When reheating the soups, stir in water to thin as desired. (Or, for a creamy texture, stir in half-and-half or cream.) Refrigerate the vinaigrette in a covered container for up to 2 days.
