Roasted Pepper Soup

Grilling intensifies the flavour of sweet red and yellow peppers and helps this low fat soup to keep its stunning colour and delicious flavour.

Ingredients:

3 sweet red peppers

1 sweet yellow pepper

1 onion chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

750ml vegetable or chicken stock

15ml plain flour

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Red and yellow peppers, diced to garnish

Method:

Preheat the grill to high. Halve the peppers lengthwise, remove and discard their stalks, seeds and cores. Arrange the peppers on a roasting tray, skin side up, and grill until the skins have blackened and blistered. Transfer the peppers to a plastic bag or a bowl covered with cling film and leave until cool. Peel away and discard the charred skins and roughly chop the pepper flesh. Set aside.

Put the onion, garlic and 150ml of stock into a large pan. Bring it to the boil on a high heat and boil for about 5 minutes, or until the stock has reduced in volume. Reduce the heat and stir until the onion is softened and just beginning to colour.

Sprinkle the flour over the onion and gradually stir in the remaining stock. Stir in the chopped roasted pepper flesh and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool slightly. Purée the mixture with a stick blender until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper, return the pan to the heat and reheat the soup gently to piping hot, but not boiling. Ladle into 4 soup bowls and garnish each bowl with a sprinkling of diced peppers before serving.

Serves 4