Creamy Tomato and Yellow Bell Pepper Soup

This recipe is a showstopper, and would not have happened if I hadn't passed a farmstand with the best looking tomatoes. Pretty impressive considering it's only April. I bought a few pounds of them with the idea of making soup on this cold, rainy day.


When I search for a recipe, I always start with Epicurious. The recipes have reviews at the bottom from people who are clearly better cooks than I, because they say things like, "Add a teaspoon of ras al-hanout" or "I served these with quenelles and they were to die for." Huh? In any case, I take their advice on adjusting the recipes and they always come out great.

Roasting the tomatoes and garlic

For the creamy tomato soup, I found this recipe, which required a trip back out for yellow peppers but the result was worth it. Wowie zowie it was pretty, and really let the fresh ingredients shine without adding a lot of other ingredients. The only adjustment I made on the tomato soup was to use fresh basil in place of dried oregano, and I didn't worry about pushing anything through a sieve. Really, do recipe writers have nothing better to do with their lives than push things through sieves? Just use the immersion blender (oh, immersion blender, how I love you) and you'll be fine.

Why did my husband have to point out that the garnish looks like a strawberry? Now that's all I see.

I served these with cheese toasts, also from Epicurious.

Cheese Toasts

1 egg, separated

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Pinch of cayenne

1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon minced scallion or shallot

4 slices sandwich bread, lightly toasted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the yolk with the mustard and cayenne, then stir in the cheese. Whisk the white until it holds soft peaks and fold it into the mixture along with the scallion. Spread the mixture on the toasted bread and bake until puffed and golden, about 5 minutes, while you reheat the soup. Serve the soup piping hot, with a piece of cheese toast, cut in half on the diagonal, and fresh pepper ground into each bowl.