Spicy Red Bell Pepper Soup

I love this recipe because it uses fresh, sweet red bell peppers, as opposed to roasted red peppers. It’s full of other fresh vegetables and thyme, too, and it freezes exceptionally well. Rice is used as the thickening agent, rather than cream. If you don’t like a lot of spice, reduce the amount of cayenne and red pepper flakes.

Original recipe makes 10 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
6 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 yellow onions, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 quarts chicken broth
1/2 cup long grain rice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

PREP

40 mins
COOK

35 mins
READY IN

1 hr 45 mins

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the bell peppers, carrots, onions, celery, and garlic. Cook and stir the vegetables until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, rice, thyme, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the rice and vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat. and cool 30 minutes.
Blend the cooled soup until smooth using an hand-held immersion blender directly in the pot. Or use a blender, and blend the soup in batches until smooth.