Soupentine's Day: Roasted Red Pepper Bisque

A hooperu for the ages!


I just realized I didn't even take a picture of the soup, so I'll describe it: It's an orangey-pinky-red, smooth, sprinkled with basil and hiding some fun little surprises just under the surface.

Location:
My apartment

Attendees:
Amber VALENTINE (so appropriate it couldn't be ignored), Tiffany, Kelly, Matt, Janice, Jeff, Julie, Josh, me


Oh, and Wil Wheaton, in spirit if not in physical presence


Menu:
Cheeses and crackers
Green salad
Citrus, feta and mint salad
Roasted Red Pepper Bisque
Red velvet cake (made by Tiffany)
Mimosas (and one mibowlsa)


Entertainment:
Gotta admit, the fun of the day more than slightly eclipsed the soup of the day. If everyone celebrated Valentine's Day like this, I think there would be significantly fewer complaints about how it's a Hallmark Holiday and such.

The party started off with a bang, fairly literally. Jeff managed to pop a champagne cork in the exact trajectory needed to accomplish this:


To quote Ron Burgundy: "Heck, I'm not even mad; that's amazing!"

The rest of the day included a good deal of laughing-till-we-cry while playing Catchphrase, the most interesting manner of cutting a cake I've ever seen, leading to something of a caketastrophe (while still leaving the cake both edible and incredible),


some disenchanted hipster snow angels,


and an impromptu rooftop snowball fight that devolved our entire mastery of the English language into fits of giggles, with photos below captured marvelously by Tiffany.

Look, ma! No gloves!

The Soup:
This was a nice soup that seemed Valentinesy enough, even though I didn't get to the heart-shaped croutons I meant to have time for. I think it'd be better as a starter than a meal, but the flavor was strong and winning, and there were certainly smiles punctuating the talk of friendlyfish.

I doubled this guy to make enough for all the revelers, and it worked out pretty well. I also adapted it to be serviceable for shrimp-eaters and non shrimp-eaters alike, so both serving instructions are included below.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Bisque with Shrimp and Romano Cheese
Adapted from Bon Apetit, March 2000

5 large red bell peppers
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
3 tablespoons julienned basil

For serving shrimpies:
1 tablespoon olive oil
16 large uncooked shrimp, peeled, deveined, and chopped in roughly thirds

For serving non-shrimpies:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 additional red bell pepper

Broil red bell peppers until blackened on all sides. Enclose in paper bag and let stand 10 minutes. Peel and seed peppers. Cut 1 pepper into matchstick-size strips and set aside. Coarsely chop remaining 4 peppers. Combine chopped peppers and broth in heavy large saucepan. Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until peppers are very tender, about 5 minutes. Puree soup until very smooth with an immersion blender, then mix in paprika and sugar. Simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors. Whisk in cream and pecorino Romano cheese. Season to taste with salt and pepper--I only added salt.

For shrimpies:
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add reserved bell pepper strips and shrimp and sauté until shrimp are cooked through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide shrimp mixture among 4 bowls.

For non-shrimpies:
Slice raw red bell pepper into long strips. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add reserved roasted bell pepper strips and raw bell pepper and sauté about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide mixture among 4 bowls.

Ladle soup over shrimp or pepper mixture. Sprinkle basil over and serve.