Clear the Fridge Soup: Roasted Red Bell Pepper Version

Nothing would do the other day but what I had to shovel out the fridge and use some of the lifetime supplies of Costco produce before it spoiled. Three and a half bright red bell peppers and one cob of fresh sweet corn surfaced among the loot. Out of curiosity, I decided to try making a red bell pepper soup.

It turned out so well that now I’m craving some more, having finished it off at last night’s dinner. Here’s how it came down:

You need:

• an onion
• several ripe, red bell peppers
• small amount of good vinaigrette dressing (bottled or home-made*)
• one or more cobs of corn
• one or two cloves of garlic, chopped
• broth or water (I had about two cups of duck broth)
• small amount of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• for garnish: yogurt or sour cream; fresh or dried herbs

How to put it together:

Preheat a backyard grill or the broiler in your oven.

Coarsely chop the onion and sauté it gently in the olive oil until it is nicely soft and caramelized. Near the end of this process, add the chopped garlic. Cooking the onions should be a fairly slow process; this releases their sugars and makes them quite delicious.

With a sharp paring knife, slice the corn off the cob. Set aside.

Remove the stem from each pepper by slicing around the stem’s circumference and gently pulling out the stem and seeds. Try not to poke a hole in the sides of the pepper while doing this. Rinse out the seeds and drain the water out of the peppers. Now pour a few drops of vinaigrette into each pepper and gently swish around to coat the inside.

While the onion is cooking, place the bell peppers over a hot grill or run them under the broiler. If you’re using your oven broiler, put the rack down about a third of the way, so the peppers won’t be too close to the heat. You’d like them to cook a little while singeing.

Occasionally stir the onions. Keep an eye on the peppers. When the skin begins to blacken, remove from the heat. While the peppers are hot, peel off the blackened skin. You can facilitate this by putting the peppers inside a paper or plastic bag (personally, I would avoid plastic, but each to his own) and letting them sit for a while. In this instance, I had no problem peeling off most of the skin without that step.

Coarsely cut up the peppers and add them to the browned onions. Add broth or water to cover. I used about two cups; the amount is not set in stone.

I happened to have some duck broth in the freezer, left over from last December’s Christmas feast. Because we smoked the duck, the broth was smokey-flavored. This created an interesting effect. Next time, though, I’d probably use chicken broth or, maybe better, just plain water. The roasted peppers have a distinctive, appealing flavor that should be allowed to shine through. If you wanted some extra flavor in the liquid, you could add a little sherry or white wine to the water.

Allow the peppers, onions, and liquid to simmer together in the pan for a while, until any crispness is cooked out of the peppers. This, too, is a forgiving process. You could let it simmer for a half-hour or so.

Now run the cooked ingredients through a blender. I have an immersion blender, which worked perfectly for the purpose. Purée to make a lovely hot chowder. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Finally, add the corn to the hot purée. Let this sit for a few moments; the residual heat from the soup will cook the corn a little without overcooking it. If you like your corn really soft, either use canned corn or put the purée back on the heat and simmer the corn in it for a few minutes.

And that’s it. To serve, add a spoonful of yogurt. If desired, sprinkle with fresh or dried herbs, such as chives, tarragon, or herbes de Provence, or fines herbes.

* How to make vinaigrette dressing

The classic “Italian” or vinaigrette dressing consists of one part tart stuff (vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice) and three parts oil (I prefer olive oil, but any good vegetable oil will work). To suit your taste, add herbs and a minced clove of garlic. Whip or blend. Here, too, I use the immersion blender, obviating the need to chop the garlic finely and creating a rich, creamy dressing. But you can put the ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake them together, or you can just whap them up with a fork or wire whisk.