Roasted Pepper and Vegetable Soup

Roasting vegetables makes their flavour much more intense and concentrates their natural sweetness.

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35-45 minutes

1 onion, quartered (skin left on)
3 cloves garlic (skin left on)
2 carrots, halved (scraped)
2 celery sticks, cut into thirds
1 leek, white part, halved
2 yellow peppers, seeded and halved
2 red peppers, seeded and halved
1 red chilli, seeded and chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt flakes, freshly ground black pepper
900 ml/1.5pints to 1.1 litres/2 pints vegetable stock
fresh coriander leaves and thin strips of pepper to serve

Preheat the oven to 2OO°C/4OO°F/gas mark 6. Put all of the vegetables into an ovenproof dish, add the chilli and oil, and season well. Roast for 35-45 minutes or until the peppers are soft and cooked. Remove the garlic and onion skin and put all of the vegetables into a food processor. Add half of the stock and whizz until smooth. Transfer to a saucepan and add enough stock to make a consistency that you are happy with. Season to taste and serve.

Extracted from The Power Food Cookbook by Amanda Grant.
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