Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Bisque.

Traditionally Indians, especially my 'Made in India' husband, just hate salads and soups. Their aversion is so much that it sometimes becomes contagious to the extent that you feel like a cow in their company when you are munching your favorite salad or soup. You have to pinch yourselves every now and then to get back to womanhood!!!

Talking about soups…isn’t it odd that though our Indian cuisine is so rich in vegetables we have to brand the South Indian rasam as a soup and serve it in our Indian restaurants. I guess that goes back to my initial claim that traditionally Indians have been averse to soup - we just haven't explored the realm of soups much.

In such a scenario, imagine my surprise when Nirmal orders a half-and-half at Panera with a tuna salad sandwich and a roasted red pepper & tomato bisque. I call it a well balanced diet while Nirmal calls it a to-stay-alive (he is referring to his high cholesterol) diet. So as i enjoy my soup while keeping an eye on his plight, I can’t help thinking about my cow in India bending over to drink water from its container – hehehehehe !!!

Long story short – Nirmal loved the soup. So here I am trying to make a homemade version of the soup with less fat to make it healthy for him. If there are any more copy-cat versions of my husband then I guarantee that they will love this soup. Try it out for yourself.

U NEED:

• Red bell pepper - 2 big
• Canned diced tomatos - 2 cups
• Chicken stock - 2 cups
• Red onion - 1
• Garlic - 5 cloves
• Oregano ( dried ) - 1 tsp
• Basil ( fresh) - 1 tbs
• Sugar - 2tsp
• Black pepper ( freshly ground) - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste /1 tsp
• Heavy cream - 2 tbs
• Olive oil -1 tbs

METHOD:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut the onion into 4 quarters. Seed the red peppers and cut it length wise into two pieces. Brush a baking sheet with oil and place the red peppers skinside up. Fill the spaces with the onion quarters and whole garlic cloves. Drizzle 1tbs olive oil on top of the veggies and roast for 20 minutes or until skins of pepper turns brown. Remove the skin from the peppers and chop it to big chunks. Set aside with the roasted onion and garlic.
• In a large saucepan, combine diced tomatoes, oregano and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium ,add peppers, onions and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes. Transfer to a blender and puree it . It tastes better if it is a bit chunky.Place puree in saucepan and add basil, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 -3 minutes. Remove from heat and add heavy cream. Serve it hot with sour cream on top.
• Serve with your choice of a portion of roasted Sour dough bread or French bread.

NOTES:

• Replace heavy cream with regular table cream for a healthier version.
• Use a hand blender to avoid accidental spalsh of the hot liquid from the blender (happened to me). Otherwise wait for some time until the soup mixture become little cold and then put it in the blender.

This appetizer for the JFI tomato feast is already late. I hope R.P will serve it as a last minute entree - if not appetizer atleast as a desert !!!!!

The basic recipe was from this wonderful website.