This cheerful yellow soup not only has plenty of eye appeal, but it’s also delicious served hot or cold, making it über versatile as well. As with all bell peppers, these yellow beauties are chock full of vitamin C—four times more than a medium orange.
Tip
An excellent way to develop an especially creamy soup in place of potato is adding canned white beans such as kidney or navy beans. Puréed with soup ingredients, it becomes silky smooth while adding essential fibre to your diet.
Roasted Yellow Pepper Bisque with Cashew Gremolata
Ingredients
- 6 large, firm yellow bell peppers
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra
- 1 sweet onion, peeled and diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) minced fresh thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cups (1 L) low-sodium vegetable or chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp (2 mL) smoked paprika
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) lemon juice (optional)
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) raw cashews, toasted and finely chopped
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) minced fresh parsley
- Zest from 1 orange
- 1 large garlic clove, finely minced
- Hot chili oil (optional)
- Prepared regular or gluten-free croutons (optional)
Nutrition
Per serving:
- calories194
- protein7g
- fat6g
- saturated fat1g
- trans fat0g
- carbohydrates31g
- sugars3g
- fibre4g
- sodium72mg
Directions
01
Preheat oven broiler and place rack in highest position. Grease baking sheet with olive oil.
02
Cut peppers in half and remove stems and seeds. Place cut side down on baking sheet. Lightly brush with olive oil. Broil until skins blacken, about 8 minutes. Transfer to bowl and tightly seal to steam. Set aside until peppers are cool enough to handle.
03
Alternatively, broil whole peppers on a barbecue, turning them with long-handled tongs until peppers are blackened and blistered. Place in bowl and tightly seal to steam and cool.
04
In large heavy saucepan, heat oil. Add onion, celery, and carrot, and sauteu0301 until onion is clear. Add potato, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf, and sauteu0301 for a minute. Add stock and paprika and bring to a gentle boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until potato is fork-tender.
05
While potato is cooking, peel skin from peppers; chop peppers, and place in bowl. Add any juices that may have collected. When potato is tender, remove bay leaf. Add roasted peppers and any juices that may have collected to saucepan with potatoes. Stir together.
06
Transfer mixture to high-speed blender and pureu0301e until smooth and creamy. Alternatively, pureu0301e using hand-held stick blender. Return to saucepan and heat through just until piping hot. Add a splash of lemon, if you wish.
07
In bowl, stir together gremolata ingredients. Serve soup with gremolata scattered overtop. Dot with hot chili oil, if you wish. Serve with a smattering of finely diced croutons as an option.
Irene McGuinness is a writer, recipe developer, food stylist for numerous magazines and corporations, and alumna of the Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University
