Tomato Red Pepper Soup

This is one of my absolute favorite soups! Serve with fresh bread and with chives or parsley on top. Sometimes I cook fresh cheese-filled tortellini and put it in the soup. Also, as with all soup, this recipe is only as good as the stock in it -- try to use homemade stock. I make this the night before and reheat it, as it tastes its best the following day.

• Preparation Time: 25 mins
• Cooking Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 60 mins
• Calories: 217 Calories

Ingredients

• 4 bay leaves
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 5 cups chicken stock
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 4 red bell peppers, quartered and seeded
• 2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups refrigerated cheese tortellini (Optional)

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven's broiler and set the oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source.

Step 2

Arrange the pepper pieces on the broiler rack so they don't touch each other, and broil until the skin is mostly charred and the peppers are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Place the peppers into a resealable plastic zipper bag and allow to cool; strip off skin once cooled. Coarsely chop the peppers.

Step 3

Place the chopped peppers, onions, celery, garlic, chicken stock, and bay leaves into a large saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the onions are and celery are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in 2 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes, and remove from heat. Remove and discard bay leaves.

Step 4

Pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot.

Step 5

Return the blended soup to the saucepan, and stir in the 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes and the Parmesan cheese. Bring the soup to a simmer over medium-low heat, whisking constantly to melt the cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Step 6

Bring a pot of water to a boil, and stir in the tortellini. Boil the tortellini over medium-low heat until tender, about 5 minutes; drain in a colander set in the sink, rinse with water, and stir into the soup.