Comfort food makes you warm and fuzzy inside no matter what day it is, but on cold chilly days, it makes you especially warm and fuzzy. I like to get cozy with a bowl of creamy, roasted bell peppers & tomato soup with some salty, crispy cheese & bacon toast.
Roasted Bell Peppers and Tomato Soup
My all time favorite soups are creamy tomato soup and roasted red pepper soup. I’m greedy so I combined these fantastic soups into one soup pot. Combining bell peppers and tomatoes adds more flavor and sweetness to your soup. To make this, I used a combination of Roma tomatoes, ripe medium tomatoes, and orange & yellow bell peppers. You don’t have to use orange & yellow bell peppers; you can use any color you like as long as it’s not green.
Roasting Bell Peppers & Tomatoes
To get nice, smoky flavors to the soup, I roast my bell peppers and tomatoes until the skin is charred. I usually roast vegetables using my grill outside even in winter because it’s fairly warm where I live even in winter, but if that’s not possible for you, you can broil them together in the oven. Tomatoes will get done in about 10 minutes, so pull them out first and leave the peppers in the oven for another 10-15 minutes or until they are soft and charred.
Onions & Oregano
Before you start simmering roasted bell peppers and tomatoes in a soup pot, you need to first sauté sliced onions and add dried oregano. Onions and herbs to me are essential ingredients especially for soups, stews and saucy dishes for savory flavor base. You don’t need to caramelize these onions; cook them until they’re soft, then you can go ahead and add your bell peppers and tomatoes to the onions.
Additional Flavor Profiles
Before the soup is complete, add ground smoked paprika for extra spice and smokiness. To get that creamy consistency, don’t forget to add heavy cream or half & half. You don’t need to add loads of it, about 2 tablespoons will do to thicken the soup and add that creamy, milky flavor.
After I pureed the soup and the beautiful orange liquid was simmering on the stove top, I also decided to make blistered tomatoes with thyme to add to my dish. It’s more tomatoes, but it adds texture to the soup and thyme adds earthy flavors that makes it perfect for fall and winter.
Cheese & Bacon Toast
With fresh steaming bowl of soup, cheesy toast is a must have. Soup and cheese toast are meant for each other and it’s super easy to make.
You just need to choose really good crusty bread for this. I like to use buckwheat levain bread, but good sturdy pieces of quality sourdough will be great too.
For cheese, there so many delicious options. I blended two types of cheese, smoke mozzarella and imported English cheddar cheese. Provolone or Comté also works when paired with salty cheese like English cheddar. I’m kind of obsessed with English cheddar cheese and love going to small artisan cheese shops to find them but cheese section in Whole Foods market has pretty good selection of imported cheese.
After spreading some Japanese kewpie mayonnaise to the bread slices, place them in a warm pan and sprinkle your cheese on top. For bacon, I pre-cook bacon pieces and blot extra fat with a paper towel before adding to my toast. That way I don’t end up with overly greasy toast which can be bit much even for comfort food.
It only takes few minutes for your cheese to melt completely, some of the cheese spilling out onto the pan, forming salty crispy edges!
No matter how cold it is outside, You’ll relax and warm up in no time with a meal like this.
Roasted Bell Peppers and Tomato Soup
Ingredients
For Roasted Bell Peppers and Tomato Soup
- 2 bell peppers (red, yellow or orange)
- 5 roma tomatoes
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 small yellow onion, sliced
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 cups water
- 3 tbsp ground smoked paprika
- 2 tbsp heavy cream or half and half
- salt to taste
For Blistered Mini Tomatoes with Thyme (optional)
- 1 cup whole mini tomatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Set oven to broil. Place whole bell peppers and tomatoes on a baking sheet and pour 3 tablespoons olive oil over vegetables and place in oven. Turn vegetables over every 5 minutes to char the skin. After 10 minutes, take tomatoes out of the oven and set aside to cool. Leave bell peppers in the oven for additional 10-15 minutes, then take it out of the oven and let it cool.
- Remove stems, skin and seeds from bell peppers and chop them in 3 inch pieces. For tomatoes, remove the core and chop them into 2 inch pieces.
- Heat medium soup pot over medium heat and add remaining olive oil. Add sliced onions and sauté until onions are soft, then stir in dried oregano. Add peppers, tomatoes and combine with onions. Add water to the pot, place cover and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat.
- Puree in a blender until smooth (you can also use hand blender). Return pureed mixture to the soup pot and stir in smoked paprika, salt, and heavy cream or half and half. Place cover and simmer under low heat for another 15 minutes.
- While soup is simmering, heat small cast iron skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. When olive oil starts to sizzle, add whole mini tomatoes, fresh thyme and salt. Cook tomatoes for 2 minutes on each side or until tomatoes char and blister. Turn off heat and place 2-3 tomatoes and sprig of thyme on each soup bowl.
Cheese & Bacon Toast
Ingredients
- 5-6 slices of sturdy quality bread (sliced ½ inch thick)
- 2 tbsp japanese kewpie mayonnaise
- 1 cup grated mild cheese such as mozzarella, provolone or comte
- 1 cup grated english cheddar cheese
- 3 slices of bacon, excess fat trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1-2 tbsp fresh parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Heat small pan over medium heat and cook bacon pieces until bacon is golden brown. Transfer onto plate with paper towel to blot excess fat, set it aside to cool.
- Heat large pan over medium heat. Spread mayonnaise on one side of sliced bread and place bread slices flat in the pan. Sprinkle mild cheese and cheddar cheese on top of each slice of bread and add bacon pieces on top. When cheese is completely melted, transfer toast onto a plate and sprinkle parsley leaves on toast.
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