Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup!! Packed with slow roasted red bell peppers, potatoes, celery and onions, this soup is just the thing you need to fill you up on a cold day. Comfort in a bowl right here.
As we are getting ready to move into colder weather here in the Midwest and the “frozen tundra” of a winter we’re going to have. . (my friend said this). . I have to think back and remind myself the reasons why we decided to move here to Wisconsin. It was between sunny Florida and Madison, Wisconsin. . did I ever tell you that?
Anyway, our top three reasons were:
1) Better job for my husband at a more stable, established company
2) Very manageable cost of living
3) Living only 4.5 hrs away from my sister, who lives in Minnesota
So, when we made our decision and knew that Madison was going to be our new home, I called my sister and this was the advice she gave me: buy a thick winter coat, not a pretty one but one that would keep me warm. Buy a really good snow blower and learn how to use a shovel and then she proceeded to talk my head off about this store called Discount 70 (where they sell random, awesome stuff for cheap (my husband and my brother-in-law always go there every time we visit Minnesota)) and ALDI, the grocery store chain, which is apparently my sister’s favorite place to shop.
My sister is the smart shopper, the money saver. . and I mean, come on, who doesn’t like saving money?
So, we made the move and because I’m a food blogger and go grocery shopping like 3-4 times a week, I know my stores like the back of my hand now.
I like our ALDI here in Madison because it’s clean, the people who work there are really nice people, it’s smaller, and you are able to run in and out with no fuss. They also do not even have plastic shoppings bags so I love that they make you remember your re-useable grocery bags. I recently stocked up on some herbs and spices . . which, at ALDI are only 99 cents each. 99 cents each!! It’s a no brainer for me to buy my pantry staples here.
And just a few baking essentials which were half the price. . . because these days, I’m baking more than usual and when it comes to saving money, every penny counts. I can’t tell you how much pure canned pumpkin I’ve purchased since September. . and we’re not even in November yet!
And because it’s fall and I’m all about soup these days, I made some roasted red bell pepper soup. . inspired by the display of roasted red bell peppers that greeted me when I walked into ALDI.
There’s nothing better to me than a big bowl of warm roasted red bell pepper soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. It’s food like this, my friends, that will help me get through the winter. It simply has to.
I hope you enjoy . . and if you have an ALDI in your area, check it out, yo!! Mostly all of the ingredients I used for this soup (I already had salt, pepper, olive oil and cilantro at home) was purchased at my local ALDI.
Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 Russet potatoes peeled and cubed
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 1/2 red onion peeled and chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/2, 12 - ounce jars roasted red peppers drained and rinsed
- 4 to 5 sun-dried tomatoes
- 4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- fresh cilantro for garnish
- Special equipment suggested: immersion blender
Instructions
- Using a large Dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes, celery, onions and season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until the potatoes begin to soften, for about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, chicken broth (or vegetable broth) and 1 cup water. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Pour in the heavy cream and mix well. Cover halfway and and let simmer, until the potatoes are tender, for about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and using your immersion blender, puree and blend until smooth. I like to leave a little chunkiness for texture. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Divide among bowls and sprinkle with some cilantro and serve.
Recipe adapted from The Food Network
Disclosure: This post is in partnership with ALDI’s Holiday Blogger Ambassador Program. This is a sponsored post. As always, all opinions expressed here are 100% my own.
