Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! How did you spend the long weekend? Did your family get together for a traditional turkey dinner? Did you take some time to reflect on what you are thankful for in your life? I would love to hear from you if you want to share.
Last year, I was in Toronto for a friend’s wedding. This year, some of our friends had the brilliant idea to rent a cottage in the mountains of Vermont. Good food, good company, scenic views… fun times!
Vermont is beautiful and so easily accessible from Montreal. Back in March, Jason and I took a road trip to Boston (to visit the newlyweds, actually) and stayed in a cute
tiny house in Burlington on our way home. Inevitably, we browsed the shops of
Church Street Marketplace where I ended up splurging on a large and stunning walnut cutting board from the
Vermont Butcher Block & Board Company (I’m sure you’ve noticed it
on the blog), and phenomenal maple balsamic vinegar from
Saratoga. This time, I brought home a nice piece of extra sharp local cheddar cheese. Tasty and crumbly. Yum.
Today’s recipe for roasted red pepper and tomato soup is absolutely delicious. We savoured every last drop of it.
Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup
- 4 red bell peppers
- 3 tomatoes
- 2 small onions, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp dry basil leaves
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp olive oil, divided
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Fresh basil, for serving
Preheat oven to 400 F. Core the tomatoes and cut them in half. Lay the red peppers (whole) and halved tomatoes on two baking sheets. Lightly brush the tomatoes with half of the olive oil.
Pop the baking sheets in the oven and roast for 45-50 minutes, turning the peppers over halfway (the tomatoes can stay in place). Remove the peppers from the oven and keep roasting the tomatoes for an additional 10 minutes.
Set the roasted veggies aside.
When the peppers are cool enough to handle, skin and seed them, carefully saving their juice.
In a large pot, sauté the onions in (the other half of) olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, tomato paste, salt, dry basil and bay leaf. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Add the roasted peppers and their juice, roasted tomatoes and vegetable broth. Roughly crush the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
Discard bay leaf. Using an immersion blender, purée the soup until smooth.
For serving, top each bowl with some fresh basil. Serve alongside freshly baked corn bread for a delicious light meal. Dip it in for best enjoyment. Yum.
Note: Stay tuned – Recipe for zucchini-speckled corn bread is coming up next week!
