Yellow-Pepper Soup

Soup puts me in a very good mood. I don’t care if it’s 100 degrees or ten below outside, if there is a yummy soup I will eat it. If there’s a soup I’m craving I will make it. I could easily say that this soup might fall into my top ten favorite soups. Unfortunately because of the cost of peppers I make this soup about once a year. Oddly, the cost of really good chocolate does not stop me from making brownies – I may have to revisit this.

Yellow peppers can be expensive in my area. My grocery store was trying out something new the other day (which I was not a fan of) where they were selling produce outside for less than what they were selling it for inside. They had pineapples, peppers, melons and various other fruits and veggies. Outside yellow pepper were selling for $.77, inside they were selling for $1.50. Even though yellow pepper soup was not on the menu I grabbed a few peppers anyway. All the other ingredients that go into this soup are typically in my pantry so I was good to go.

I’m not sure where my grandma found this recipe. It is on a magazine clipping taped to an index card with a few notes from my grandma on it. We made the soup for fun one day at her house when I was visiting and I fell in love. I think she had some extra peppers and she needed a way to use them. She sent me home with the recipe knowing that she would more than likely not make it again for her and grandpa. I made this soup with my dad two summers ago and we canned the soup so I had it ready to go in my pantry. Yes, I could have just as easily frozen the soup, but my dad enjoys canning and I enjoy bonding time with him as he cans.

I haven’t made any adjustments to the recipe. Grandma however has crossed out the Yukon gold potato. Her note reads “Very Good! Strong pepper flavor but then try adding more red potatoes.” I’m not sure if she tried this with Yukon golds and it failed or if she just has a soft place in her heart for red potatoes. I used russet because they were in the potato bin.

2 teaspoons olive oil

2/3 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup diced celery

1 ¾ cups low-salt chicken broth

1 ¼ cup water

¾ cup cubed peeled Yukon gold or red potato

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp pepper

2 yellow peppers, seeded, halved and cut into quarters (about ¾ pound)

Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add onion and celery; cook 7 minutes or until onion is soft. Add the broth and next 6 ingredients (broth through bell peppers); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 40 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Place half of the bell pepper mixture in a blender, and process until smooth. Pour pureed bell pepper mixture into a large bowl. Repeat process with remaining bell pepper mixture. Spoon soup into bowls; garnish with parsley, if desired.