Roasted Pepper Soup

When I saw this recipe for Roasted (Yellow) Pepper soup I was intrigued because it calls for a chicken stock based broth rather than a creamy broth. I picture roasted pepper soup as being creamy like squash soup. So, I thought I'd give it a try. The original recipe is for yellow peppers and I really wanted to try that but the yellow peppers in the garden just haven't been doing great and I didn't have enough to do salsa and the soup, so I stuck with red peppers, since I have lots of them.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup - modified from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
5 red peppers
5 1/3 cups (or 3 14 oz cans) broth (I used a mix between homemade vegetable broth and store bought chicken broth)
1 potato, cubed
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dry thyme
Sour cream, optional
Shredded cheese, optional
Parsley flakes, optional

1. Halve peppers and remove stems and seeds. Place cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Roast at 425 for 20-25 minutes until skins are blistered.

2. Gently wrap foil around peppers to enclose. Cool for 15 minutes, or until they are cool enough to handle. Carefully pull skins off. Discard skins and chop peppers.

3. Cook onion and garlic in hot oil until soft, about 4 minutes. Add red peppers, broth and potato. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover, simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add oregano and thyme.

5. Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Alternately, you can transfer the soup in small batches into a food processor or blender.

6. Place soup back on low heat until heated through. Serve top with cream cheese, shredded cheese and/or parsley flakes, if desired.

Overall, I enjoyed this soup. I think it would make a delicious base for vegetable or barley soup. However, I think I would have preferred it with a creamy base. I might try it again and add some milk or cream along with the broth. It just wasn't filling enough. I ate it for lunch and found myself needing to snack all through the afternoon. The flavour is perfect but it wasn't as hearty as I would have liked.