Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1 1/2 lb / 680 g sweet onions (this may be a single large onion)
• olive oil (in a mister)
• 2-4 sweet peppers (bell peppers, Round of Hungary, or other variety) to obtain 1 cup once roasted
• 3 (4 if small) garlic cloves, unpeeled
• 4 cups / 1 qt / 1 l strained roasted tomatoes, thawed if necessary
• 1 cup / 240 ml homemade chicken stock/broth or vegetable option, (in which case, this soup is vegetarian)
• fine sea salt, to taste

Instructions

In the recipe below, I assume you already have strained roasted tomatoes, either freshly made (if you live in an area where it is tomato season) or thawed from your frozen stash.

How to prepare the roasted vegetables

This can be done the day before making the soup. If you prepare the vegetables in advance, store them in the fridge until ready to use them.

Preheat oven to 375 F / 190 C.

Slice onions into half moons 1/4 inch / 6 mm wide. Spray them with olive oil and toss well, then spread evenly on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat.

Place peppers on another baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or aluminum foil. For efficiency’s sake, try to fit both baking sheets into the oven. Roast for 15 minutes, then turn the peppers 90 or 180 degrees, depending on their width, and lightly toss the onion, spreading it again so it roasts evenly. Wrap garlic cloves all together in a piece of foil and place them next to the peppers.

Roast for 15 minutes. At this point, the onions may well be ready: they should be soft and not burnt. If so, take them out and continue roasting only the peppers and garlic. (If not, put them back in the oven and check after a few minutes.)

Take the garlic out after 5 minutes. Let the cloves cool, then peel them.

Turn the peppers again after 10 minutes. Continue roasting them until they are ready, i.e., when the skin has turned dark and is detaching in places. (The time depends on the type and size of peppers.) Put the peppers in a lidded container or paper bag to steam, then peel off skin, discard stem and seeds, and the liquid they release. Measure one cup for the soup and set aside the rest for another use.

How to prepare the soup

Warm up a bit of olive oil in a soup pot, then add the strained roasted tomatoes, all the roasted vegetables and the broth. Cover and bring to a boil, then let cook gently for five minutes. Remove from the heat. Season with a bit of salt, to taste, and stir.

Let the soup rest, covered, for 15 minutes, then purée with an immersion blender. Add water, as needed, to obtain a soup of the desired consistency. Making the soup at least a few hours before you are planning to serve it will give it enough time to rest and ripen. Reheat the soup before serving it.

In the top photo, I portrayed the soup with some mana’eesh baked in my new wood-burning oven (more on this soon).

After winning this battle, I can say that it was worth fighting: my tomato soup tastes intensely of tomatoes and a bit of sweet peppers. I can imagine making it during the winter, when gray days of gray rain desperately call for intense color and a flavor that can transport me to summer. Basically, this is prescription soup to treat winter blues.

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Go to the full post on zuppa di pomodori e peperoni arrosto / roasted tomato and pepper soup