Roasted Red Pepper Soup w. Gremolata & Chorizo
Cook Time: ~25 Minutes
It’s soup season once again and this roasted red pepper soup is a banger. I enjoy making soup because it’s fun, delicious, and packs a lot of nutrition into an easy-to-digest form factor. This roasted red pepper soup is subtly sweet with overtones of smokey thanks to the peppers and paprika. On its own, the soup is great, but with the addition of a citrusy garnish of gremolata, and a salty and crunchy bite from the chorizo, this one takes satisfaction to another level.
Serves: 4-6
Prep: ~5 minutes
Cook: ~25 minutes
Ingredients
Soup
5 red peppers
2 white onions
2 carrots
2 celery sticks
1/2 of a chorizo
Tomato puree (2 tbsp)
Smoked paprika (2 tsp)
800ml chicken stock
2 garlic cloves
Olive oil (3 tbsp)
Salt & black pepper
Gremolata
Lemon
1 garlic clove
Flat leaf parsley (~20g)
Notes
Extras: The chorizo and gremolata are exquisite accompaniments that take the dish to the next level, but the soup is still delicious on its own.
Peppers: You can cheat and purchase smoked peppers from a jar, but trust me it's not the same as making your own.
Equipment
Large pot
Hand-blender
Small frying pan
Small mixing bowl
Mise En Place
Remove the stalks from the peppers, and slice around to body to create nice wedge shapes. You should get 3 to 4 from each pepper.
Dice the chorizo into small cubes.
Peel the garlic.
Peel the carrots, and roughly chop or dice the carrots, celery, and onions. Try to avoid having any of the vegetables being too chunky.
The Cook
If you want to prepare a fresh gremolata (which I highly recommend) chop the parsley as finely as you can and empty it into a bowl. Next zest a whole lemon, add it to the bowl and mix delicately with your fingers. Blanch a peeled garlic clove in boiling water for 4 minutes until soft, and grate into the bowl, mixing once more. I recommend a microplane grater for zest and garlic. It should smell wonderful and will give your soup a pleasant citrusy kick. Stick it in the fridge until your soup is ready.
For the soup, heat up your grill to its highest setting and place a tray of your peppers, laid out skin side up, underneath it. Once the skin has blackened, remove the peppers and place them inside a zip-lock bag to steam and cool down.
While they cool down, heat up olive oil in a large pot and add your carrots, celery, and onions; ensuring you season them well. Stirring often, let them cook for ~10 minutes. Add grated garlic and tomato puree, stir, and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the smoked paprika and chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
While that simmers, start frying the chorizo in a pan with a splash of oil. The goal is to carefully cook the chorizo until crisp. Once crisp, lay onto a paper towel to remove excess oil, and leave to harden.
While the chorizo fries and the soup simmers, remove your peppers from the zip-lock bag and peel the skin from each pepper. If they have been steamed well enough, a subtle pinching of the fingers in the middle of the skin should remove most of it. It can be fidgety but try to ensure you remove all of the skin. Do not wash the peppers afterwards. Once the skin is gone, dice the peppers into small cubes, add to the simmering soup, and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Once that’s done, blend the soup until smooth. Taste the soup and apply more seasoning if needed.
To serve, ladle your soup into a bowl. Add freshly ground black pepper, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of gremolata, and a nice handful of crisp chorizo. A garlicky, toasted, slice of sourdough is a welcome addition too. Enjoy.
If you attempt this dish, let me know how it goes, and if you variate the recipe in any way. This newsletter relies upon word of mouth, so if you know someone who would enjoy this recipe please share it.
Thanks for reading,
Conor