Spicy vegan roast tomato and bell pepper soup recipe

This is an old favourite of mine, I've been making it for years and have recently switched the cream cheese I used to use in it for soy cooking cream. I'm not a big fan of many soy products and have not been able to get even this soy cream to work for me in any other recipes yet, but in this soup it is just fine! I really do make it quite spicy, just cut down on the garlic and chili if you prefer a milder taste (or have a date the night you're eating it :)). This soup freezes well, so I always make a large quantity regardless of how many people I'm cooking for.


Spicy Tomato and Bell Pepper Soup
(serves 4-6 as a main meal with bread)

Ingredients

• 15 ripe medium-sized tomatoes, quartered
• 2 red bell peppers, deseeded and cut into large chunks
• 2 yellow bell peppers, deseeded and cut into large chunks
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2-3 small dried red chili peppers, crushed
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 medium onions, roughly chopped
• water as needed
• 2 vegetable stock cubes
• 250 ml of soy single cream alternative (unsweetened)
• salt and pepper to taste
• handful of roughly chopped rocket for garnishing (optional)

Preparation

1) Preheat the oven to 180*C, and place the chopped tomatoes and bell peppers in a large baking tray. Sprinkle with the garlic and chili, drizzle with 2 tbs of the olive oil, and toss until the vegetables are lightly coated with the oil. Roast in the oven until cooked and just beginning to char at the corners, about 45 minutes. Toss the vegetables again once or twice while they are cooking.

2) When the tomatoes and peppers have been in the oven for about 20 minutes, heat the remaining olive oil in a large pan (big enough to hold all the vegetables with some space to spare), and gently saute the onions over a medium heat until they turn glassy.

3) When the tomatoes and peppers are roasted, add them to the pan with the onions, also pouring in the cooking juices from the baking dish. Add enough water to just cover the vegetables, crumble in the stock cubes, and bring to the boil.

4) When the stock cubes have dissolved, remove the pan from the heat, add the soy cream, and puree the soup using a blender.

5) Add salt and pepper to taste, garnish with the rocket, and serve with bread and anything else you fancy!