Yahtzee! Red Pepper SALE=Spicy Red Pepper Soup

Some like it HOT.  I for one, basically drink Frank’s Red Hot. It has some kind of hold on me.  A sale on red peppers is like hitting 3 or 4 numbers in the lotto, not the full monty, but you still get an excellent monetary reward…especially at D & W.  So when I saw red bell peppers, 10 for $10 dollars and sprinted to the produce shelf, leaving poor Mr. Wonderful in the dust returning with 20 red bell peppers, he had no idea what had just happened.  Since he knows better than to actually ask about such things, he agreed to just wait for the finished product which we lapped up 2 days in a row and several lunch servings later.

This recipe was adapted from the klutzychef at her blog; check her out she is cute and honest…and talks about burning Rice Krispie treats, my kind of gal.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

serves 4 people as a main meal

Ingredients

• 8 red bell peppers, roasted (no, it does NOT taste the same if you use canned-just roast them in your oven..super easy)
• 1 baked medium russet potato, smashed
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 2 medium chopped onions
• 6 garlic cloves peeled and left whole
• 2 tsp roasted red pepper flakes (half of this for a milder soup)
• 1 tsp chipotle powder (omit for mild soup, I like to hurt myself eating soup like this…)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups crushed tomatoes (16 oz)
• 1 3/4 cups reduced-fat coconut milk (or whole fat, whatever)
• 2 cups veggie broth or water

Directions

1. Bake your potato, set aside to cool.  Roast your peppers, whole, washed and then coated lightly with EVOO or canola oil on a foil-lined (you will thank me later for this step) jelly roll pan at 400 or so until they are black, yes, black.  Set them aside in a tightly covered bowl to cool and then stem, seed, and peel them.  This is not hard, suck it up and do it.  Seriously, the taste is worth it.
2. In a covered non-reactive pot, heat oil in a dutch oven on medium-high heat.
3. Add onions, carrots, salt, pepper flakes, chipotle powder, and garlic.  Sauté on medium heat for 15 minutes or until onions are soft and translucent.  DO NOT INHALE DEEPLY when you put the flakes and powder to the oil.  You might want to turn on the fan for a few minutes or suffer for about an hour.
4. Remove the pot from heat and add canned tomatoes, red peppers, coconut milk, smashed potato guts, half/half and broth/water.
5. Mix together so ingredients are fully integrated.
6. Now, in batches, add the soup to a blender or food processor to mix all together.  An immersion blender works beautifully here as well since you can just throw it right into the pot.  If you have a dish towel to spare and are using a standing blender, you may want to put the towel under the cover to prevent hot soup from spilling out the top.
7. Keep warm until ready to serve on stove over low.
8. Top with Frank’s Red Hot (I know it’s too much, but it’s soooooo good).