Try These Ideas to Send the Message “You’re Worth the Extra Time It Takes to Have a Little Extra Fun!”
We probably all agree, winter is soup season, yes? With this said, how about some fun ideas for serving this proverbial meal? Outside of the mug, bread bowl, or pumpkin I mean.
The folks at www.organizedmom.com have some very clever suggestions for us. Consider these:
First, try serving two soups in one bowl. Besides providing a new flavor experience, folks will enjoy stirring and mixing the two distinct colors or textures of soup. This creative technique works only if the soups are thick. It may require some practice to get it right, but it’s definitely worth the effort. Finish it all off by adding some eye-catching garnishes.
Roasted bell pepper and cream of pea soups are good choices for this soup serving version. Not only are they thick enough to work this way, their colors are distinctly complementary and their flavors blend well.
Then there’s soup served in a biscuit. Just prep your favorite biscuit recipe and roll out rounds. Bake them over the backside of a muffin tin. Grease each cup and bake per your recipe directions.
This method forms the neatest little cups for individual soup servings. How nice that you get to eat the bowl, too. And when you can eat the bowl, there are obviously fewer dishes to do. Yay!
Then there’s soup served in bell pepper cups. They’re the perfect size for individual servings, and talk about a delicious and clever way to get a boost in your vitamin C and fiber! And an extra added attraction is the subtle peppery flavor this lovely veggie adds to the soup.
Preheat oven to 340 to 350ºF. Cut the tops off each pepper. (When shopping, look for those that sit flat when upright. Remove the seeds and membrane without puncturing the peppers’ sides. Place peppers on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly roasted. Fill with your favorite chunky soup and serve immediately.
I’ll finish with a delicious recipe for roasted red pepper soup, just in case you’d like to try any of the above soup-serving ideas. You know, serving soup in something other than a typical bowl takes a little extra time, it’s worth the effort because of the unspoken message it sends—“You’re worth the extra time it takes to have a little extra fun!”
(P.S. Any of these creations would be perfect to showcase on the “I Made This” button of your new and improved Cook’n 15! Just sayin’…)
2 large red bell peppers halved and seeded
2 medium sweet onions quartered and outer peel removed
9 medium-sized tomatoes cored and halved
10 cloves garlic unpeeled but slice off bottom of each, exposing the garlic clove inside
extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 dollop basil pesto
Burrata cheese
Directions:
Add Recipe to Cook'n
The folks at www.organizedmom.com have some very clever suggestions for us. Consider these:
First, try serving two soups in one bowl. Besides providing a new flavor experience, folks will enjoy stirring and mixing the two distinct colors or textures of soup. This creative technique works only if the soups are thick. It may require some practice to get it right, but it’s definitely worth the effort. Finish it all off by adding some eye-catching garnishes.
Roasted bell pepper and cream of pea soups are good choices for this soup serving version. Not only are they thick enough to work this way, their colors are distinctly complementary and their flavors blend well.
Then there’s soup served in a biscuit. Just prep your favorite biscuit recipe and roll out rounds. Bake them over the backside of a muffin tin. Grease each cup and bake per your recipe directions.
This method forms the neatest little cups for individual soup servings. How nice that you get to eat the bowl, too. And when you can eat the bowl, there are obviously fewer dishes to do. Yay!
Then there’s soup served in bell pepper cups. They’re the perfect size for individual servings, and talk about a delicious and clever way to get a boost in your vitamin C and fiber! And an extra added attraction is the subtle peppery flavor this lovely veggie adds to the soup.
Preheat oven to 340 to 350ºF. Cut the tops off each pepper. (When shopping, look for those that sit flat when upright. Remove the seeds and membrane without puncturing the peppers’ sides. Place peppers on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly roasted. Fill with your favorite chunky soup and serve immediately.
I’ll finish with a delicious recipe for roasted red pepper soup, just in case you’d like to try any of the above soup-serving ideas. You know, serving soup in something other than a typical bowl takes a little extra time, it’s worth the effort because of the unspoken message it sends—“You’re worth the extra time it takes to have a little extra fun!”
(P.S. Any of these creations would be perfect to showcase on the “I Made This” button of your new and improved Cook’n 15! Just sayin’…)
Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Ingredients:
2 large red bell peppers halved and seeded
2 medium sweet onions quartered and outer peel removed
9 medium-sized tomatoes cored and halved
10 cloves garlic unpeeled but slice off bottom of each, exposing the garlic clove inside
extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 dollop basil pesto
Burrata cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat broiler (550°F).
2. Place halved red peppers (cut side down), onions, halved tomatoes (cut side down), and garlic cloves on a baking sheet. Drizzle everything with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place in oven to broil for 20 minutes.
3. Remove baking sheet from boiler and wrap the red peppers in foil to allowing them to steam for about 5 minutes.
4. In the meantime, remove the outer skins from the tomatoes. They should just slip right off. Also remove the outer layer of charred skin from the onions and the peels from garlic cloves. The garlic cloves should just push right out of the peel since we sliced the bottom of the clove off before roasting.
5. Once the peppers have steamed, unwrap them from the foil, and when they are cool to touch remove the charred outer skin. If some of the skin can't be easily removed don't worry about it. A little bit of the skin left on is completely fine.
6. Transfer the roasted peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and juices from the baking sheet to a blender or food processor. Add the heavy cream and tomato paste. Puree until smooth. You may need to do this in batches. Or as an alternative, place everything in a large pot and use an immersion blender to puree.
7. Once all the ingredients are pureed, place in a large pot and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat on the stove. Allow the soup to simmer for about 10 minutes giving time for the flavors to meld and deepen.
8. To serve, ladle the soup among bowls and top with fresh burrata cheese, a dollop of pesto (don't skip the pesto!), and fresh ground pepper.
2. Place halved red peppers (cut side down), onions, halved tomatoes (cut side down), and garlic cloves on a baking sheet. Drizzle everything with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place in oven to broil for 20 minutes.
3. Remove baking sheet from boiler and wrap the red peppers in foil to allowing them to steam for about 5 minutes.
4. In the meantime, remove the outer skins from the tomatoes. They should just slip right off. Also remove the outer layer of charred skin from the onions and the peels from garlic cloves. The garlic cloves should just push right out of the peel since we sliced the bottom of the clove off before roasting.
5. Once the peppers have steamed, unwrap them from the foil, and when they are cool to touch remove the charred outer skin. If some of the skin can't be easily removed don't worry about it. A little bit of the skin left on is completely fine.
6. Transfer the roasted peppers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and juices from the baking sheet to a blender or food processor. Add the heavy cream and tomato paste. Puree until smooth. You may need to do this in batches. Or as an alternative, place everything in a large pot and use an immersion blender to puree.
7. Once all the ingredients are pureed, place in a large pot and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat on the stove. Allow the soup to simmer for about 10 minutes giving time for the flavors to meld and deepen.
8. To serve, ladle the soup among bowls and top with fresh burrata cheese, a dollop of pesto (don't skip the pesto!), and fresh ground pepper.
Recipe formatted with the Cook'n Recipe Software from DVO Enterprises.
Alice Osborne
Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2006
Email the author! alice@dvo.com
