I love the delicate flavor of this soup. The delicate roux makes this soup silky smooth. It is a wonderful soup to start any dinner with. I have also made this soup with yellow or orange peppers. The color changes but the soup essentially stays the same.
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3-4 red bell peppers, cut into strips or roughly diced
3 tablespoons butter, or olive oil
3-4 cups chicken stock, or water
2.5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons heavy cream , or milk
Pinch of ground cayenne pepper, or to taste
4-5 tablespoons cooked long-grain rice.
Heat the half the butter/oil and add the peppers and sauté on medium till soft. Remove a few if you would like to garnish with the sautéed peppers. Add the stock or water and simmer gently for 15 minutes, till peppers are extremely soft. Purée the peppers in a blender or using a hand blender till smooth and silky.
In a separate pan, heat the rest of the butter/oil and add the flour. On medium to low, cook the flour till it starts turning a light gold and smells nutty (you are making a roux), about 3-4 minutes. Add a 1-2 ladles of the hot soup and mix well to form a slurry. Add the slurry to the soup and mix well. It should be smooth, but if it turns lumpy purée the soup again. Add cayenne. Simmer gently till it thickens a bit, about 5 minutes. Take off the heat, add the cream, mix well.
To serve, heat soup gently and top with cooked rice. Enjoy.