By Michael Minorgan for Curtains Up
www.globalgourmets.ca michael@globalgourmets.ca
Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Soup
Tomatoes….yes it’s finally that time of year when we can thankfully bypass all those artificially grown, hard and tasteless varieties that have graced our stores for so many months and replace them with some of the natural, sweet and delicious varieties now readily available at our outdoor farmer’s markets. I just returned from the Eastern Townships and while I was there I picked up a bunch picked right from the vine and plan to make some sauces and pickles to enjoy through those ardouse fall and winter months.
In addition to their wonderful taste at this time of year tomatoes have tremendous beneficial health effects, something the Aztecs and Pueblo people knew when they first harvested them in 500BC (1). They also believed that if you ate the seeds of the tomato you would be blessed with powers of divination. I can’t promise that your skills at tarot card reading will be any more enlightened, but I can promise you that this week’s recipe combining these two seasonal vegetarian delights are a perfect match and will definitely will make your taste buds sing….Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups tomato juice
- 2 cups tomatoes cut in half
- 1 cup (generous) finely chopped roasted red bell peppers
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon prepared white horseradish
- 1 garlic clove, pressed
- Generous dash of hot pepper sauce
- Fine sea salt
- 4 1/3-inch-thick rounds soft fresh goat cheese
- 6 grape tomatoes, cut in half
- 2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil
- Additional extra-virgin olive oil (for drizzling)
Preparation
Rub olive oil over red peppers and tomatoes and roast in oven until charred on the outside. Cover in a bowl with saran wrap and let sit. Then peel off most of the charred skin leaving some on as it will add a nice smoky flavour to the finished soup
Combine tomatoes and peppers with tomato juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, horseradish and garlic in a food processor and pulse (don’t make the puree too smooth you want some chunks to give texture to the soup… Season soup to taste with sea salt, hot pepper sauce and freshly ground black pepper. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled and flavours blend, at least 2 hours. Keep chilled until ready to serve
Ladle soup into 4 bowls. Top each with 1 goat cheese round and 3 grape tomato halves. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and basil. Drizzle with oil and serve.
Our new Information Page for our yearly Foodie Getaways to Thailand & Vietnam
