While you might not be interested in turning the oven on in the height of summer, this roasted red pepper soup is a great option later in the season, or on a cool summer day. I’m in Denmark now and we’ve had plenty of days below 20°C – ideal soup weather! This version is made by roasting the peppers, onion, and garlic in the oven with spices, then moving to the stove top to cook with some red lentils and canned tomatoes. The end result is a slightly spicy, rich soup with a hint of sweetness.
If you’re fond of blended soups, try this summery roasted tomato, zucchini, and eggplant soup, easy vegan tomato soup made with fresh or preserved tomatoes, or carrot and parsnip soup.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Red peppers: any type of sweet red pepper can be used. You could use less ripe yellow or orange peppers but they won’t have as much flavour.
- Vegetable broth: I think you could use water for this soup as long as you season it properly, but a good broth does help.
- Red lentils: since this is a blended soup, red lentils are best in terms of texture. You could use cooked or canned white beans or chickpeas and reduce the amount of broth.
- Tomatoes: feel free to use an equivalent quantity of fresh tomatoes if you have them.
- Spices: as always, adjust to suit your tastes, especially the hot pepper.
Step by Step
Step 1: roast the peppers, onion, and garlic with the oil and spices.
Step 2: add to a pot with the remaining ingredients.
Step 3: bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Step 4: puree and serve hot.
Recipe Notes
If you don’t have an immersion blender or heat-safe standing blender, you’ll have to let the soup cool before blending and then heat back up on the stove. I can’t recommend a good immersion blender enough. We don’t even have a standing blender and don’t need one.
While you can get a similar approximate flavour by using jarred roasted peppers, you’ll miss out on the sweetness that comes from also roasting the onion and garlic.
How to Store
Storage: keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to three days, reheating as usual.
Freezing: transfer the fully cooled soup to airtight containers and freeze for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
Expert Tips
- Don’t worry about some darker bits: some parts of the vegetables might char just slightly in the oven (ends of onions, for example) but they’ll add more depth of flavour, and that’s the whole point.
- Season to taste: you’ll probably need more salt than you think, because the lentils will absorb quite a bit. Be sure to taste again after blending and add more if necessary.
- Use older veg: this is the ideal way to use up some slightly soft or just-past peppers, that aren’t crunchy enough to serve raw any longer. If you have some that have been sitting a bit too long, or you lucked on in the reduced section, roast them up for soup.
More Sweet Pepper Recipes
Vegan Pasta Bake
Greek Chickpea Salad
Roasted Vegetable Baked Eggs
Mushroom Fajitas
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Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Description
Ingredients
- 2 large red peppers or three smaller ones
- 1 medium onion quartered
- 4 cloves garlic skin on
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional, to taste
- 400 grams canned tomatoes
- 1 litre vegetable broth
- 150 grams dried red lentils
- 1 teaspoon sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
- Cut the red pepper into large chunks (be sure to remove the stems and seeds) and place in a large casserole dish or on a lined baking sheet. Add the onion and garlic, then mix with the oil, salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne pepper.2 large red peppers, 1 medium onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon olive oil, ½ teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, ½ teaspoon sweet paprika, ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Roast for 20-25 minutes, or until the vegetables are browned. If you notice some smaller edge pieces burning, stir partway through the cooking time. Once finished, set aside to cool slightly so that you can peel the garlic.
- Add the roasted vegetables to a large soup pot with the canned tomatoes, broth, lentils, and additional salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer, lid on, for about 15 minutes or until the lentils are cooked.400 grams canned tomatoes, 1 litre vegetable broth, 150 grams dried red lentils, 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Remove from the heat and puree the soup with an immersion blender (or heat-safe standing blender). Taste and season to your taste.
- Serve hot with some kind of cream. Leftovers can be stored for a couple of days in the refrigerator and freeze well.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.