Roasted Sweet red pepper soup

What a great lunchtime simple recipe. Full of flavour and easy to make, especially nice with some fresh home made bread and butter, with a big dollop of mascarpone. Yum!

I've spent a few months working on the flavour balance for this recipe, and this is the final result.

I used all organic ingredients in the soup and think this does improve the flavour.

The main trick is roasting the Peppers to help remove the skin, but also adds a depth of flavour which improves the soup.

Ingredients 2 Sweet red peppers 4 red bell peppers 1 medium sized white onion 2 sticks of celery 1 carrot 3 cloves of garlic, ground 1 inch of root ginger, ground 1 medium hot chilli, seeds removed 1 small starchy potato(king Edward or Maris piper) 1 pint of good vegetable stock Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cut the onion, carrots and celery into small chunks
   
2. Roast the peppers over a flame or under a hot grill then place in a covered container to allow to sweat, this helps to release the thought skin
   
3. Allow to cool and remove the skin and seeds, cut into inch sized pieces
4. In a large saucepan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and cook off the onion, celery, carrot, garlic and ginger.
5. When the onions etc. are soft and translucent, add the peppers stock and the very finely diced red chilli pepper and the potato
6. Bring to the boil, topping up with hot water so all the peppers are covered. Continue to cook for 15 minutes.
7. Remove from the heat and blend, being careful with the hot soup mix. The longer you blend the finer the soup will be. I like the soup with a little texture.
8. Adjust the seasoning by adding some salt and black pepper, be careful adding the black pepper as you have already added chilli.
9. Serve with a nice dollop of mascarpone or sour cream and fresh bread.

Enjoy!