Chunky Red Pepper Soup with Orzo and Herb Oil

Light the burners on a gas stove to medium-high heat. Place a pepper on each burner and roast, rotating until all the skin is black (alternately, if you don’t have a gas stove, you can use your oven broiler to roast the peppers).

Transfer the charred peppers to a plastic bag or a large bowl; seal or cover with plastic wrap.

Meanwhile, heat a large pot over medium heat. Add oil, then add onions. Cook onions 5 minutes until lightly caramelized. Add garlic and tomatoes; stir. Add 2 cups of the broth.

Simmer soup over medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, remove peppers from the bag or bowl. Peel off the skins (you can do this under cold running water if it helps). Cut peppers and remove seeds and stem. Slice peppers into 1-inch pieces and add them into the soup. Add remaining vegetable broth into the soup.

Remove pot from the heat. Puree mixture briefly with an immersion blender (or pulse a few times in a regular blender, but if you do this make sure to do it in small batches and leave plenty of room in the blender for heat expansion), blending it enough to leave it equally chunky and smooth.

Return pot to stove top over medium heat. Stir in orzo, orange zest and juice. Cook 5 minutes more until orzo is al dente. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Make the herb oil: In a food processor, process herbs until minced. With food processor running, drizzle in oil until mixture is smooth. Add salt to taste.

Dish the soup into serving bowls. Drizzle oil over warm soup. Serve with crusty, cheesy bread for dipping.

Adapted from the Homemade cookbook.