Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

The other day I got a comment on my Red Pepper and Fresh Mozzarella Lasagna from Julie, who writes the blog Teaching “Good” Eaters. She writes, “Yum!! Was hoping that it was all red pepper (tomato free) because I can’t eat tomatoes… but I’ll still be trying it, I’ll just have to figure out how to vary it on my own 🙂 Can’t wait- it’s making me hungry…”

It made me think, I know that there are others who can’t eat tomatoes. As I understand it, the nightshade category of foods are…  “Nightshade-free not only means free from tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and eggplants but also any spices or sauces that use nightshades as ingredients, such as paprika, chili powder, most curries, etc.” So these are all foods that people with tomato allergies might want to avoid.

So, the Red Pepper Lasagna clearly wouldn’t fall into the nightshade-free category because it has peppers, but I bet we can make it tasty and tomato-free. I have a red pepper soup that sometimes we have as soup and sometimes we have it as a sauce over pasta with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. In fact, it was included in my “Cupboard Cooking” cookbook. And, I bet that if it were cooked down a little to thicken it, it would be a great replacement for tomato sauce in the lasagna.

This recipe calls for jarred Roasted Red Peppers. You could roast your own as well. The jarred ones tend to have a softer texture, so that’s why I recommend them here. And, they’re shelf stable so it’s nice to keep a jar or two around just in case.

I haven’t tried it with the lasagna yet, but it’s a great tangy soup that’ll make you happy, so I’m betting that it’ll work well. Hopefully Julie likes it!

Red Pepper Soup: try it as a soup, as a pasta sauce, or maybe even as a sauce in lasagna

Roasted Red Pepper Soup Recipe

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Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Servings 6

Author Debi

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium red onion chopped
• Salt
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1 ⁄4 cup flour
• 3 cups jarred roasted red peppers drained and rinsed, coarsely chopped if whole
• 1 ⁄2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 5 springs fresh thyme
• 3 1 ⁄2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup water
• 3 ⁄4 cup milk
• Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. Heat butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat until melted. Add onion and 1⁄2 teaspoon salt and cook until the onion begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned and fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Add flour and stir until flour is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Add red peppers, red pepper flakes, thyme, broth, and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover, and simmer until peppers are soft, about 20 minutes.
3. Remove and discard thyme sprigs. Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth and creamy. Return soup to pot, and heat over low, stir in milk, and adjust the seasonings to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
4. If you want the soup to be thicker for a lasagna sauce, continue to cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 more minutes (continue to check on the thickness, as this is only a guess on my part as of the writing of this post).

Recipe Notes

Makes 4-6 servings