So last Tuesday I’m staring at this sad pile of red bell peppers from my garden thinking “now what?” Remembered that roasted pepper soup recipe bookmarked forever ago and figured heck, let’s give it a shot with this gouda cheese blocking my fridge. Here’s exactly how it went down:
Starting With Disaster Material
Chopped those peppers rough – seeds flying everywhere – threw ’em on baking sheet with onion chunks and two whole garlic bulbs sliced in half. Drizzled olive oil like I owned an olive grove and chucked it in 400°F oven. Set timer for 25 minutes then totally forgot and burned the onions black around the edges. Tip #1 right here: If your oven runs hot like Satan’s sauna? Check at 20 minutes.
The Smelly Mush Phase
Scraped the roasted mess into pot – black bits included cause who’s wasting veggies? Poured veggie broth straight from carton until everything was swimming. Let it boil hard then dropped to simmer for maybe 15 minutes. That’s when things got ugly. Blender time. Hot soup splattered everywhere – counter, walls, my favorite apron. Looked like orange baby food. Tip #2 slapped me in the face: Don’t fill blender more than halfway unless you want abstract kitchen art.
Cheese Armageddon
Back in pot now, time for gouda. Grated two fistfuls into simmering soup and stirred like crazy. Instead of melting smooth? Clumps. Gouda icebergs floating in lava. Mild panic set in. Scooped out clumps and microplaned those suckers into dust. Re-added slowly while whisking nonstop. Tip #3 saved my sanity: Finely grate cheese into blizzard flakes before adding unless you want cheese dumplings.
Final taste after salt smacking? Fire roasted sweetness punching through creamy cheese. Would I make this again? Only if I’m wearing hazmat suit for blending. But man, those leftovers next day… chef’s kiss.
