ROASTED RED PEPPER & CHICKPEA SOUP

I prepared this dish last night.... something that I had this winter, naturally made some of my own changes to it to give it that kick-ass wowness !

YOU'LL NEED:
(serves four)

- 3 medium sized red peppers, cleaned and roasted.
- 1 medium onion, peeled & diced finely
- 2 carrots, trimmed, peeled and finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cans chickpeas (drained)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- a pince of red pepper flakes
- salt & pepper to taste
- fresh rosemary

First things first.... need to roast them peppers so preheat the oven (broiler to high) and cut the peppers into quarters lenghtwise, make sure to remove all the core etc. I like to toss them in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and then....
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the peppers cut side up on the baking sheet. Place under the broiler and cook until the skin just starts to blister and just a bit blackened. Remove the peppers from the baking sheet and let cool. The skin should come off easily at this point.

In a heavy sauce pan, heat the olive oil and cook the onion, carrots, garlic together until softened (the garlic should be golden) and add in the peppers, the broth and one can of chickpeas as well as the red pepper flakes and salt / pepper. Bring this to a boil and low the heat to simmer for about 30 minutes (you may need to add a bit of warm water).

Take off heat and let cook some then place your almost soup in your food processor (or blender) and puree until you have a smooth texture. Now add in the other two cans of chickpeas and return the soup to the pot and look cook for another 10-15 minutes. I like to add in some finely cut up rosemary and parsely at this point and drizzle some good olive oil on top of it all!

Its delicious and great for you!
ENJOY