Smitten Kitchen-Keiser Kitchen Roasted Tomato & Red Pepper Soup

I love to read, and one of my favorite things to read is food blogs (surprise surprise); one such food blog I enjoy is Smitten Kitchen.  They recently were featured on a national news site (I can't remember which one, I think CNN) for their roasted tomato soup with broiled cheddar, so we thought we would put an Ad Hoc spin their recipe and make our own!

We started per the SK recipe with 3 pounds of Roma tomatoes, but immediately deviated by adding in a red bell pepper.  These got a quick bath in the colander before we sliced them into halves and strips in preparation for roasting.  Before they went into a pre-heated 400 degree on a foil lined cookie sheet, we hit them with a healthy dose of kosher salt, cracked black pepper, and EVOO.

After an hour in the heat, the tomatoes, dried thyme, red pepper flakes, and the red bell pepper went into our food processor for a 30 second spin to achieve a velvety smooth consistency.

We finished the soup in a medium size sauce pan with 2 cups of chicken broth and 15 minutes of stirring over medium heat.  In an effort to make a creamier soup, we covered the pot with a lid for about half of the time to thicken the mix.

The end product was on the thinner side of a traditional tomato soup, but had a nice bite from the bell pepper and the red pepper flakes.  If you read closely, you'll notice the absence of cream or milk from the recipe; while the soup was good on its own, Elizabeth & I agree that tomato soup is the appropriate place for cream.


Tonight I write from Champaign, and as I finish this post, I still have the taste of yellow cherry tomatoes straight from the Sterling garden on my tongue, so needless to say life is good.  Have a great week everyone!