ROASTED VEGETABLE BISQUE

Roasted Vegetable Bisque image

This is one of my favorite dishes to eat; I love roasted vegetable flavors. This bisque provides so many different flavors. It is amazing that the tastes of the bisque constantly are changing in your mouth...from the time it hits your taste buds, to the time it melts in your mouth, to the time you swallow it. It is so "complex"...

Provided by Monica H

Categories Soups

Time 2h10m

Number Of Ingredients 23

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow onion, medium
1 portabella mushroom
2 tomato
handful of baby carrots
1 celery stalk
1 zucchini
1 small eggplant
1 beet
3 clove garlic
1 1/2 c half and half or heavy cream
5 c vegetable broth
1 c water
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp curry
2 handfuls of fresh parsley, chopped
pinch of ground saffron (optional)

Steps:

1. Prepare your veggies for roasting: - Wash all veggies and dry them with paper towel. - Don't need to chop up the baby carrots. - Chop / slice the rest in sizes as equal as possible. (i.e. I like to cut the eggplant into disks, and then quarter those disks, and use that shape/size as the general shape that I will cut other veggies as).
2. Preheat oven to 450*. Put veggies in mixing bowl and add enough olive oil while mixing them, to coat them thoroughly.
3. Arrange veggies on pan in single layer. (I usually end up using two pans).
4. After 30 minutes, take out pans, flip veggies over / mix around, and put back in oven; roast 25 more minutes.
5. Pull pan out; veggies should be soft, maybe falling apart, and some may have darkened skin; this skin is great because it gives that roasted flavor. If your veggies don't have dark marks and are not soft, give them another 7-10 minutes in the oven.
6. When done roasting, move veggies from pan to a big pot. Pour in broth and water.
7. Smash and peel garlic with knife. Add to pot. Also add the rest of the spices, except for the parsley and the optional saffron.
8. Bring to slow boil, then turn off heat, take off burner, and let cool for about 10 minutes.
9. Ladle soup into blender; don't do it all at once or it will explode on you. I like to blend about 2-3 ladles at a time.
10. Pour from blender into a bowl, and repeat process until all of soup has been blended. Transfer soup from bowl back into the pot.
11. Add cream. Turn on heat and simmer the soup for about 7 minutes, stirring every now and then. Taste it and add more salt / pepper, if needed.
12. Ladle soup into bowls. Top off each bowl with some chopped parsley and pinch of the saffron (optional!). I love this soup so much I treat it as its own meal and eat it slow to savor it; I don't eat it with a sandwich or salad or anything else. Hope you enjoy :)