Roasted red pepper and garlic soup

Recently I managed to snaffle a couple of beautiful sweet pointed red peppers at the local shop for a bargain price, so as we love roasted peppers I decided to make a warming soup.

I love roasting red peppers as its really enhances the flavour of the pepper and intensifies their sweetness, We love them in our household even using them on rustic bread as a sandwich filling with a splash of balsamic and a couple of basil leaves to create an amazing flavourful vegetarian snack.

This soups uses the roasted pepper flesh along with a couple of  roasted garlic bulbs as the basis of a tasty hearty soup which is rich in antioxidants and all things good for you. Its also an amazing colour as you can see from the photographs.

What you need

• 2 large red pointed peppers - split, seeds removed
• 2 bulbs garlic - sliced across
• Fresh rosemary and thyme
• A little olive oil or virgin rapeseed oil
• 1 white onion - peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 medium potato - peeled and diced
• Vegetable stock ( I used Essential Cuisine)
• Salt and Pepper - to taste
• Creme fraiche or yogurt - omit if you want diary free

What you do 

• Prepare the pepper and garlic and rub with a little oil before placing on a baking tray, strewn with some fresh herbs and a little salt and pepper
• Roast for 20 - 25 minutes at 180c until the pepper skin is slightly charred and blistering
• Remove from oven and cool fully on the tray
• Once fully cool remove the charred skin from the pepper flesh and squeeze the garlic cloves to remove the cloves from the papery skin
• In a large saucepan in a little oil saute the onion and the chopped potato for a few minutes, now add the roasted red pepper flesh and garlic cloves 
• Add enough vegetable stock to cover the vegetables and simmer until the potato is soft
• Blitz using a stick blender until you have a smooth consistency 
• Add as much additional vegetable stock or water to thin to your preferred soup thickness.
• Re heat and taste for seasoning
• Serve swirled with creme friache or yogurt 

We are linking up to No Croutons Required hosted this month over at Lisa's Kitchen 

Extra Veg challenge hosted this month over at Fuss Free Living

November's family foodies hosted over at Eat your Veg 

Credit Crunch Munch hosted this month by My Little Italian Kitchen 

Rosemary, lemon and garlic roast chicken thighs with baby roasties

I love dishes like this where everything cooks in the same pan concentrating the flavours and minimising the washing up. Chicken thighs are an economic cut of meat to get hold of and in my humble opinion also a cut of chicken which has the most flavour, ideally try to purchase free range if you can the taste will be better and the chickens will thank you.

I plundered the herb garden for an ample handful of rosemary which is one of my favourite herbs, so reliable, versatile and it smells amazing too. Rosemary is also this months theme for Cooking with Herbs, one of my favourite blogger challenges hosted over on Lavender and Lovage by Karen if you fancy joining in. The lemony inspiration came from the fruit bowl and preserved lemons. So lets pull together a great easy supper dish which satisfies that mid week crazing for a roast.

What you need

• Large roasting dish (works best if you use metal)
• Chicken thighs (skin on, bones in)
• Lemon - sliced (about thickness of a pound coin)
• Whole head of garlic - sliced across the middle
• Large bunch of rosemary
• Baby potatoes - skin on, slice in half if large
• Olive oil
• Sea Salt and Pepper

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 200c
• Place all ingredients in roasting pan, nestling the garlic and lemon around the chicken and potatoes
• Break the bunch of rosemary into small sprigs and sprinkle on to the dish
• Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt and freshly ground pepper, toss slightly.
• Place in the oven for 45 minutes until golden and the chicken is cooked through
• Serve with rocket salad dressed with balsamic vinegar or blackberry vinegar.

                                           

Baked sausages and sweet baby tomatoes

Who doesn't like sausages ? I love this dish as its one of those which you can pull together in a few minutes and then bung in the oven for an hour or so whilst you do something else, yet the results taste like you have been slaving our a hot stove for hours. The other great thing is if you have any leftovers (unlikely but you never know) is its fab served with pasta the next day. Loosely based on a JO recipe this is a great italian style family friendly dish.

You will need

• Quality sausages (high meat content ) - ask your local butcher
• Small cherry tomatoes / cherry plum or similar
• 2 garlic cloves - peeled and finely chopped
• Selection of fresh garden herbs (bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, oregano in my case)
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Oven proof dish of appropriate size

What you do

• Place the sausages, tomatoes in your ovenproof dish, sprinkle with the herbs and garlic and tuck in the bay leaves and rosemary, drizzle with oil and balsamic vinegar and a little black pepper
• Bake in a preheat oven at 180c for approx 45 minutes until the sausages are cooked and the tomatoes  soft and a little caramalised
• Serve with your choice of chunks of bread, mashed potato, pasta or in our case potato wedges.

We had this dish served with sumac potato wedges and rocket salad

Green Garden Soup

Well the weather is still not playing ball, its wet, its cool then its sunny, very confusing for the plants in the vegetable garden and very confusing for the cook too, what do you make when its supposed to be summer but some evenings you almost feel like putting the heating back on !

Soup is the answer in this household but not the rib sticking type of winter, something all together lighter using seasonal ingredients of course ideally from the garden and so this soup was born.

A quick rummage in the vegetable garden yielded rocket, peas, broad beans, baby courgettes and lovage, this was supplemented by store cupboard additions of potato, garlic and onion, the resulting soup was delicious, sweet and very moreish.

Ingredients

• Peas (you could use frozen)
• Broad beans
• Baby courgettes - chopped finely
• Rocket - handful no more
• Lovage leaves - couple
• White onion, finely chopped
• Potato- peeled and diced in to small pieces
• Vegetable stock
• Butter 

Method

• Melt butter in a large saucepan
• Add all your vegetable and sweat for a few minutes without browning
• Add vegetable stock until all your vegetables are covered
• Simmer until the vegetables are tender
• Allow to cool slighty, then blend to desired consistency, thinner with more stock or water if needed
• Taste to see if needs seasoning, bring back to gentle simmer, do not boil as it spoils the sweet flavour
• Serve accompanied by great bread

I am entering this post in simple and in season blog challenge on Fabulicious Food, this month guest hosted by homemadebyfleur 

This is also an entry for No croutons Required, July challenge for summer soups and salads, a vegetarian challange co hosted by Tinned Tomatoes and Lisa's Kitchen