I have to confess I’m pretty new to chilled soup, I mean the idea of cold soup can send a shiver down the spine of every Irish person I know. Maybe it’s because I associate soup with cold winter days or that dodgy gazpacho I had once from a not very authentic Spanish restaurant.
But tastes change and as I have become more adventurous in my tastes I decided to give it a go, that and when a chef I know mentioned that one of my hot soups would be amazing as a chilled summer soup, well I had to check this out.
This soup will keep for two to three days in the fridge, it’s perfect for making ahead of time and makes for a great appetizer for your summer dinner party.
How glad I am that I took the leap, I’m now converted. How I have never appreciated the chill of a spicy, super tasty soup on a hot summer’s day I don’t know. This chilled roast pepper soup may be my first chilled soup but it will not be my last.
This soup is quite spicy, that’s how I roll with soup most of the time, but you can leave out the chili if you wish and it still tastes really great. I used a sieve to end up with a smooth and silky seedless soup, but if you prefer a thicker soup then you can leave the pulp in.
The seed and toasted quinoa crackers are the perfect accompaniment for this soup, in fact they are really good with any soup. These crackers are packed full of protein and healthy fats from the seeds, and they are filling because of the fibre.
They are really easy to make and will keep for up to a week in an airtight container, that’s if they last that long!
Chilled Roast Pepper Soup with Seed Crackers
- FOR THE CHILLED SOUP
- 1 x 400g jar of roasted peppers
- 380g large very rip tomatoes, roughly chopped
- ½ tsp sherry vinegar
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 heaped tsp of thyme leaves
- A good pinch of sea salt
- A good pinch of freshly ground black pepper
- A small pinch of red chili flakes (optional)
- Thyme leaves and extra virgin olive oil to serve
- FOR THE SEED & QUINOA CRACKERS
- 100g rolled oats
- 100g all purpose wholemeal flour
- 50g quinoa
- 50g golden linseed
- 50g sunflower seeds
- 50g pumpkin seeds
- 1 level tbs mixed sesame seeds
- ½ tsp black onion seeds
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 50ml olive oil
- 100ml warm water
- Sea salt to serve (optional)
- To make the soup:
- Add the thyme leaves to a mortar and bruise them the pestle to release some oil from the leaves. Drain the peppers and rinse them under cold running water. Add the peppers, chopped tomatoes, garlic and bruised thyme leaves and chili flakes if using to a food processor and blitz until smooth.
- Using a large sieve drain the soup into a large bowl or container. Push any pulp down into the sieve to get all of the soup out. Cover the soup and refrigerate for an hour or two. When ready to serve pour the soup into soup bowls and top with some thyme leave, black pepper and a good drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil.
- To make the crackers:
- Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C, 356 degrees F
- Add the quinoa to a frying pan, heat the pan to a medium heat, carefully toss the quinoa in the pan until it goes a light golden color, it should small quite nutty. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- Add the flour, oats, seeds, toasted quinoa, salt and pepper to a large bowl and mix well. Then pour in the oil and follow that with the warm water. Mix well, it should be a stodgy mixture, if it is too dry add a little more water.
- Line a large baking tray with some parchment paper, drop the cracker mixture onto the parchment paper and then using a spatula spread the mixture evenly over the paper. Add another layer of parchment paper on to the top of the cracker mixture then using a full bottle, (I used my olive oil bottle) roll out the cracker mixture until it is very thin.
- Remove the top layer of parchment paper, using a sharp knife score the cracker mixture into sections. I made 18 crackers.
- Bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes, turning the tray halfway through. The crackers are done when they are a golden brown color. Leave the crackers to cool in the tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Gently break the crackers on a board and then sprinkle with a little sea salt if using. Store the crackers in a sealed air tight container.
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