Description
Creamy roasted red pepper and carrot soup with smoky flavor, topped with crisp, buttery grilled cheese croutons for texture contrast.
Ingredients
- Soup: 3 red bell peppers
- Soup: 5 large carrots
- Soup: 3 Roma tomatoes
- Soup: 1 yellow onion
- Soup: 1/2 head cauliflower
- Soup: 1 head garlic
- Soup: 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Soup: 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Soup: 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Soup: 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- Soup: 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Soup: 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
- Soup: 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Croutons: 4 slices sourdough bread
- Croutons: 4 slices sharp cheddar cheese
- Croutons: 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and place a rack in the middle position.
- Seed the bell peppers and cut them into quarters. Peel the carrots and chop them into one inch chunks.
- Cut the cauliflower into florets. Quarter the tomatoes. Slice the onion into thick wedges.
- Slice the top quarter inch off the head of garlic to expose the cloves.
- Arrange the peppers, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes, onion, and garlic head on a large rimmed baking sheet.
- Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables. Sprinkle evenly with salt, paprika, cumin, and cayenne pepper.
- Roast the vegetables for 45 minutes until the carrots are fork tender and the peppers are slightly charred.
- Pour the vegetable broth into a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
- Discard the garlic skins. Squeeze the roasted cloves into a heatproof blender container.
- Transfer the hot roasted vegetables, simmering broth, and lemon juice into the blender carefully.
- Blend on high speed for 60 seconds until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Toast the bread slices until golden brown on one side.
- Flip the bread. Place cheese on two slices and top with the remaining slices to form two sandwiches.
- Cook until the cheese is fully melted and the bread is crisp. Cut the sandwiches into small cubes.
- Serve the hot soup immediately topped with the grilled cheese croutons.
Notes
- Roasting the vegetables provides the soup’s smoky depth.
- Blend the soup in batches if your blender capacity is small.
- Use high-quality cheddar for the best melted cheese flavor.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Roasting and Blending
- Cuisine: American