Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Yellow Pepper Soup with Wild Mushroom Croutons


This is my "veganised" version of the soup. This recipe is a delicious lesson in how roasting sweetens and deepens the flavor of bell peppers. The peppers can be roasted a day ahead and refrigerated until you are ready to prepare the soup.

Soup:

6 large yellow bell peppers
Cooking spray
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil object
1 cup chopped leek (about 1 medium size leek)
1 cup finely chopped peeled baking potato
1 cup chopped carrot
2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika
1 bay leaf
1 cup water
2 cup vegetable broth
1 1/2 teaspoons white balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Croutons:
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
4 cups chopped mixed mushrooms (such as cremini, shiitake, button, and oyster)
2 tblp dry white wine (I used red wine and it worked grrrreat)
1/2 tspn chopped fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tblp finely chopped parsley
1 tblp soy milk
2 tbsp vegan "butter" (Earth Balance)
1/8 tspn salt
1/8 tspn freshly ground black pepper
1 (8-ounce) French bread baguette, cut into 12 slices


Soup:

Preheat oven to 500°.

Place peppers on a jelly-roll pan. Lightly coat peppers with cooking spray. Bake at 500° for 30 minutes or until blackened on all sides, turning occasionally. Place peppers in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 20 minutes. Peel and discard skins. Cut in half lengthwise; discard membranes and seeds.

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek, potato, and carrot; cook 5 minutes. Stir in paprika and bay leaf. Add water and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are very tender. Stir in roasted pepper halves; simmer 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Stir in vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.
Place half of bell pepper mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid. Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining bell pepper mixture. Keep warm.


Croutons:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; reduce heat to medium. Stir in wine; cook 15 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Stir in thyme and garlic; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, and stir in parsley, cream, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper.
Place bread on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 5 minutes or until toasted. Place 1 heaping tablespoon mushroom mixture on each crouton. Serve croutons with soup.

Rating: soup 4 1/2 yums, croutons 5 yums

5 comments:

reya said...

oohh....what a delicious looking dish! I'm loving all those ingredients. I'll definitely have to make this once the weather cools down.

Anya said...

Oh, thank you! I can't take credit for the picture however the soup is really delicious and mushroom croutons add a nice touch.
I love warm pureed soups for cold Autumn and Summer days - best comfort food ever.

Unknown said...

i can't find leeks and vegan butter, what can i use to replace them????

thanks

Anya said...

Hi I Fan! Nice to hear from you.

I am surprised that you are having hard time finding leeks. In French they are called "poireau" and they are part of onion family. You can easily switch for green onions if you don't have any leeks at hand.
As for vegan butter - I usually use Earth balance. If not, you can use olive oil, or a bit of coconut oil. If you are OK with a vegetarian version of this soup, put a bit of regular butter.

Unknown said...

thanks, Anna. the reason why I can`t find leeks is because i am in taiwan right now, but we have something very similar. i guess i can try that. could you pose some recipe about squash???? thanks a bunch