I’m always looking for new soups to try out; ones that are freezable so I can take tubs into work with me (keeps me away from the chippy and McD’s… nothing worse than a food hangover when you’re back at your desk!). I had a 4 pack of peppers at home and was originally going to stuff them with couscous and roast. But I had yet another cold and wanted some nice, warming soup.
My friend Heather once told me about her red pepper & butternut squash soup; it sounded amazing. Alas, there was no butternut squash to be found at home. So I decided to make red pepper & tomato soup instead. This is similar to a weight watchers recipe I spotted online, so good for us who like to watch our figure 😉
Ingredients:
3 red peppers (ok, plus 1 yellow one), deseeded and chopped into chunks.
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tins tomatoes
1tbsp sugar (to get rid of the tangyness of the tomatoes)
1 ltr boiled water with 2 chicken stock cubes mixed in
2tbsp dried basil
2tbsp dried oregano
First, I fried the onions in a little olive oil for 5 mins, then added the garlic.
After another 5 mins, I stirred in the basil and oregano.
The bottom of the pan got a bit brown with the onions, but when the liquid is added later it can be scraped off and adds to the flavour of the soup.
Time to add the peppers. Cook for a further 5 mins to soften.
Now add the tinned tomatoes, sugar and stock.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 mins.
Turn off the heat, then get the hand blender out and blitz!
I season to taste at this point!
Good on it’s own, or with warm, buttery crusty bread… mmmm.
This freezes amazingly well. I had some for lunch yesterday at work; it was so utterly flavoursome!
Last night, I took one of the tubs out the freezer and decided to use it as a pasta sauce. So today, for our work lunches, Irene and I have rigatoni pasta, with red pepper & tomato sauce and smoked sausage. Roll on 12pm!
What do you like to make for work lunches? Do share… x
I love the colours in this soup!
Me too Hannah 😀
What wonderful color your soup has. It looks delicious and has my mouth watering. I have to try this. I hope you are having a wonderful day. Blessings…Mary
Thank you for your lovely comment, Mary 🙂 The soup is sooo nice; I prefer to use it as a sauce now though, as it’s really rich! Have a fabulous day 🙂
I could do with a bowl of that soup right now!
I would recommend it, Justin 🙂 quite quick to make too!
I love the colours in this soup and of the peppers in the pan – great photographs. I’m dead boring when it comes to lunch – I take sandwiches, but at least I make my own bread.
Thanks 🙂 Can’t beat homemade bread mmmmm! I think I just need something warm and comforting at lunchtime, to break up a dreary day at the office! 🙂
Fantastic, Catherine! I love making soups to take to work – there’s something so delicious about having “real” food rather than bought/processed stuff. I shall try yours when the weather is less steamy!
As to what I make- there’s a rather nice Skinny Soup (http://wendall.org/omnivorous-bear/?p=2044-) or Tomato Rice (http://wendall.org/omnivorous-bear/?p=2190) Low cal and very tasty!
Wendy, both of those recipes are on my immediate “To Do” list, they look delicious! Never thought of using coconut cream before, but I bet it’s tasty! Thanks for the soup ideas 😀