Your Best Red Pepper Recipe

Poor tomatoes -- we forgot them!

Merrill begins assembling the quartered tomatoes, peeled shallots and garlic cloves (skins on -- thanks for cutting us a break Oui, Chef!).

Merrill seasons, and Amanda keeps up our clean-as-you-go policy. It's related to our strict eat-as-you-go policy.

Mixing the peppers with the tomatoes, shallots, garlic, oil, salt and pepper.

They come out of the oven looking well-charred and a little beat up from the heat. Don't worry, the payoff comes later.

Peeling the skins from the pepper.

To the roasted vegetables, you add smoked paprika.

Then chicken broth. You want a light chicken broth so the flavor of the vegetables remains prominent.

Blanching the cilantro -- which helps it retain its bright kelly green color.

The ice bath is key. The cilantro emerges like a wet cat. We mopped it off and chopped it next.

Time to puree the soup.

Merrill holds a tea towel on top so the soup doesn't shoot like a geyser onto the ceiling. It's best to do in batches, and make sure you've let it cool enough.

Sherry vinegar zips up the cilantro oil.

The corn gets sauteed with thyme.

Then finished with butter.

Soup complete.

The simplest of ingredients: red pepper, sherry vinegar, sweet onion, garlic and smoked paprika (we used sweet).

We chose the stovetop method for roasting peppers: quick, fun and very easy to control for us control freaks.

A watched pepper... (That's Allie in the corner, by the way, with the apron that matches her skirt.)

Once the peppers are blistered and charred all over, it helps to wrap them in plastic or a brown paper bag until they're cool enough to handle; this way, the skins steam away from the flesh.

We tested this dish with both a sweet and a regular onion -- both were great, but we preferred the mellowness of the sweet.

Amanda chops garlic so quickly her hand is a blur!

Unwrapping the cooled peppers.

Amanda reminds Merrill that peeling off burnt pepper skins is FUN!

The pepper and onion pieces should be roughly the same size -- feel free to go smaller for a more delicate presentation.

The veggies caramelize in a little olive oil for 5 minutes or so.

In goes the sherry vinegar -- we used 2 tablespoons and found it to be perfect, but if you'd like more acid, use more!

The smoked paprika, or pimenton.

A quick stir, and a lid, and then just let that goodness simmer slowly away while you do your laundry, clean the basement, reorganize your filing cabinet -- whatever.