roasted red pepper and tomato soup with chunky chorizo-y croutons

live and love all soups, but this one is especially good

soup is the kind of thing that sneaks up on you. it’s a humble dish in the truest sense of the word. when i haven’t had a bowl for a while, each bite (or slurp?) whispers “eat more soup” and i promise that i will, but then i don’t. so when i sat down to write this headnote-slash-intro and found it naturally starting to lean into a slightly unhinged rant about how great and underrated and comforting and amazing soup is, i had to remind myself to *chill*. after all, how genuine could my proclaimed love of soup truly be when there hasn’t been a single soup recipe in this very newsletter until today?

anyways, i deleted the soup rant but really do promise to eat more soup. because i really do love it. especially this one.

it’s really easy to throw together and full of flavor thanks to the subtle char from roasting the vegetables and well, yes, an entire head of garlic. if that’s not your thing, obviously you can scale that back, but, i mean, i wouldn’t recommend it. the combination of flavors from the red pepper, tomato, garlic and smoky chorizo is so rich, deep and comforting, and the hit of yogurt and lemon just brightens things up for a really well-rounded and velvety soup.

if you like this simple roasted soup technique but the flavors or vegetables aren’t your fave, simply use this recipe as a guide and turn it into a pumpkin, butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot, regular potato, even celery root, zucchini or beet soup in the next go around. prep your vegetables for the oven (meaning peeling if need be and removing anything you don’t want to blend later, like bell pepper cores or squash seeds), toss into a baking dish with salt, pepper, olive oil and plenty of garlic and onion (add other aromatics like herbs too if you’d like!) and roast until just slightly charred and fork tender. blend in a blender if you have one or add to a pot and use an immersion blender instead.

for an extra smooth and creamy texture, i like to run mine through a fine mesh sieve before serving and topping each bowl off with big, hand torn croutons (as i did here), a seed sprinkle, candied nuts, or just an extra spoonful of yogurt or labneh. if you don’t like chorizo or don’t have any on hand, simply fry the croutons in some olive oil with a pinch of smoked paprika and salt for a similar flavor.

now go forth and enjoy soup!

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serves 2 - 3

for the soup

1 onion

1 head of garlic

4 red bell peppers

4 tomatoes (not cherry or grape, use medium to large tomatoes here)

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

200 grams vegetable broth (substitute: water, chicken broth)

50 grams plain yogurt

juice from 1 lemon

for the chunky chorizo-y croutons

3 tablespoons olive oil

75 grams spanish chorizo

75 grams stale bread

flaky sea salt

1. preheat the oven to 225°C/425°F. peel and quarter the onion and add to a large baking dish. halve the head of garlic horizontally through the center and add to the baking dish, cut side down. halve the bell peppers, removing the stem and core and add with the whole tomatoes to the baking dish. drizzle everything with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. roast for 35 - 45 minutes, or until the bell peppers are soft, the tomatoes have burst and everything is slightly charred.

2. while the vegetables are roasting, add the olive oil for the croutons to a small frying pan over medium heat. chop the chorizo into bite-size pieces and add to the pan. once the oil has taken on a red hue and the chorizo is ever so slightly starting to crisp, remove it with a slotted spoon. tear the stale bread into large hunks and toss into the pan, coating them in the oil. let cook until crisp and golden, about 3 - 5 minutes, then remove and set aside with the chorizo.

3. once done roasting, add the bell peppers, tomatoes, broth, yogurt and lemon juice to a blender. squeeze the garlic from the papery skin into the blender and blend until very smooth; if your blender has a fully sealed lid, make sure to release the little hole in the top and cover with a kitchen towel before blending / you can also blend the soup in a pot with an immersion blender.

4. taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper then strain through a fine mesh sieve into a pot (if you want to heat it through again) or directly into serving bowls. top with the chorizo and croutons, some flaky salt and a little bit more black pepper before serving.