Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup

Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup

I saw this recipe on laaloosh.com a few weeks ago and immediately printed out the recipe and bought the couple of ingredients that I didn't have on hand. Then the cans of tomatoes sat on top of the printed recipe on the kitchen counter for longer than I planned.

But the fact that I had put the ingredients and the recipe together meant that I didn't forget to try this soup. Daddy-O walked through the kitchen as I was making this and commented that I was going to a lot of trouble to make supper. But it wasn't "trouble." I did chop the onions and carrots, but the rest was just stirred together. Maybe it's a good thing he thinks I worked really hard cooking supper. Shhhh! Let's not tell him any different.

I am still loving the Le Crueset Dutch oven I got for Christmas and was glad to have another new recipe to make in it. Daddy-O looked at the soup at this point and volunteered to eat the leftovers for supper. I told him that he gave me this wonderful pot and now he was going to have lots of soups to try. His reply? "You know, you CAN make other things in that pot. Like roasts. Pasta." Point taken. Before the week is over, I'll let him pick a recipe.

But when the soup was done, he liked it. He told me he thought I was making plain ol' vegetable soup (which I love) with chunks of vegetables in it. (Vegetable soup is not his favorite.) When he saw that it was a thick creamy tomato soup, all was good in his world again. He went back for seconds.

Add a grilled cheese sandwich on the side and tell your family supper's ready.

ROASTED RED PEPPER TOMATO SOUP

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced (or 1-1/2 tsp of jarred minced garlic)
2 (32-oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 (6-oz) can tomato paste
1 (15-oz) jar roasted red peppers, drained (my jar was 12-oz)
2 tablespoons dried basil
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cups sour cream (I used light sour cream)

In a large stock pot (mine was 5.5 qts) heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onions and carrots for 8-10 minutes, until the carrots are tender. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Stir in the tomatoes (with juice), tomato paste, red peppers, basil, broth, salt and pepper.

Bring soup to a boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove soup from heat and stir in sour cream. Using an immersion blender, puree soup. (Or, puree in small batches in a blender.) Taste and adjust seasoning.

Serves 8  

Laa Loosh says this soup freezes well. I'll find out because some of this is already in my freezer.


If you make a few soups that need to be blended and don't own an immersion blender, you might think about adding one to your wish list. It is so much easier than transferring a hot soup in small batches to a blender. I gave one to Mommy for Christmas and when she made her tomato soup recipe, she said, "Oh my. This is much easier to make than before." 

If you are counting points for Weight Watchers, Laa Loosh says a serving of about 2 cups is 4 Smart Points if you use light sour cream. But trust me, this does not taste like a "diet" recipe.