Author Notes
This is a variation on a red pepper / tomato sauce that I've tossed with pasta for years. Our corn is so good right now that I couldn't resist, and thyme and cilantro from the garden rounded out the dish. My first thought was to grate a little ricotta salata over the top, but the feta is a nice stand-in. - Oui, Chef —Oui, Chef
Test Kitchen Notes
If you took all of the ingredients in this soup, threw them into a pot and cooked them together, you'd end up with a pretty delicious result. But Oui, Chef takes the soup to a new flavor planet by enhancing each component. He roasts the tomatoes, peppers, shallots and garlic until they're smoky and charred. He toasts the corn in a pan with thyme and wraps it with butter. And he brightens a cilantro oil with splashes of sherry vinegar. By the time you're done and have all the parts assembled beautifully in a bowl, you have a dinner party star and a soup that you'll want to savor the next day for lunch. - A&M —The Editors
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Ingredients
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5
large red peppers, washed, cut in half and de-seeded?
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4
large heirloom tomatoes, washed, cored and quartered?
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8
large garlic cloves, still in their skins?
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3
large shallots, peeled and halved
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2 1/2 cups
low sodium chicken stock, plus more if needed
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1/4 teaspoon
pimenton (smoked paprika)
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1
small bunch fresh cilantro, well washed and spun dry
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1 splash
sherry vinegar
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2
small ears sweet corn, cut from the cob
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2 teaspoons
fresh thyme leaves, finely minced
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1/2
shallot, finely minced
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1 tablespoon
butter
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1/4 cup
crumbled feta cheese
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EVOO
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Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Directions
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Preheat oven to 425?
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Toss the pepper halves, tomato quarters, halved shallots and garlic cloves in a large bowl, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss with your hands to coat. Place them all in a single layer, skin side up in a large roasting pan.
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Place the pan in the oven and roast for 45 to 60 minutes, until everything has started to take on a nice charred appearance. Check the shallots and garlic at this point, if they are nice and soft, remove from the pan and reserve, if not, you can keep them in the pan for the final 15 minutes of cooking.
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At the one hour mark, remove the pan, peel the charred skin from the tomatoes and peppers, and squeeze the garlic cloves from their skins. Place the skinned tomatoes, peppers, garlic and shallots in a medium pot with the pimenton and chicken stock, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes.
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Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender and place in a clean pan, check for seasoning and keep warm.
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Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, toss in the cilantro and blanch for about 30 seconds. Pull from the pot with a slotted spoon and shock in ice water. When cooled, pour through a strainer to catch the cilantro, and pressing with the palm of your hand, wring as much of the water free as you can. Finely chop the herb, then toss into a bowl with enough EVOO to maker a spoonable cilantro oil, add a splash of sherry vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Reserve.
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Preheat a skillet over a medium flame, and when hot add a splash of olive oil and the minced shallot. Cook until the shallot starts to take on some color, then add the corn kernels, some salt and pepper, and the fresh thyme. Cook for 2 minutes, toss in the butter, and when it melts, remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl.
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To serve, place a small pile of the corn in the center of a warmed soup bowl, pour the soup around, drizzle with some cilantro oil, and finally, sprinkle with a little crumbled feta.
I am a father of five, who recently completed a two year professional hiatus during which I indulged my long held passion for cooking by moving to France to study the culinary arts and immerse myself in all things French. I earned “Le Grande Diplome” from Le Cordon Bleu, studied also at The Ritz Escoffier and Lenotre cooking schools, and completed the course offerings of the Bordeaux L’Ecole du Vin.
About six months ago started "Oui, Chef", which is a food blog that exists as an extension of my efforts to teach my children a few things about cooking, and how our food choices over time effect not only our own health, but that of our local food communities and our planet at large. By sharing some of our cooking experiences through the blog, I hope to inspire other families to start spending more time together in the kitchen, cooking healthy meals as a family, passing on established familial food traditions, and perhaps starting some new ones.
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