In The Kitchen With Deb
Deb’s Kitchen | Tomato and roast capsicum soup with cheese and spinach muffins
Debbie Quinn has a lifelong love of food and cooking, nurtured in her parents’ restaurants and in her own family’s kitchen. Every fortnight she shares her passion and expertise with our readers, bringing her best recipes, tips and tricks to the table.
The flavours of the tomato and capsicum combine beautifully in this soup, which is so easy to make. The muffins are a great match for the soup.
Tomato and roast capsicum soup
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
Good quality olive oil for drizzling to garnish
1 small onion chopped
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes (I use Mutti Polpa finely chopped tomatoes)
2 red capsicums (400g total) roasted, peeled and chopped
500ml chicken stock (500ml water mixed with 2 heaped tsp Massel chicken stock powder)
80g soft goat’s cheese
Roasted capsicums
A simple way to roast capsicums is to preheat the oven to 200°C fan. Place the capsicums on a tray with baking paper. Bake in the oven until the skin starts to go a dark, nearly black colour and blisters, then turn the capsicums around to rotate each side so they are blistered all the way around. It takes about 20-30 minutes depending on your oven. Take them out of the oven and place them into a sealed plastic bag for 10 minutes (this will sweat the capsicums, and the skin will come off easily). Remove the skin and seeds and chop the capsicums.
Tomato and roast capsicum soup
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 4-5 minutes until softened. Add garlic, tomatoes, capsicum and stock. Season with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
Cool slightly, then blend in batches in a food processor or stick blender until smooth.
Return the soup to the pan and reheat over medium-low heat. Pour the soup into warmed bowls, sprinkle with soft goat’s cheese and drizzle with extra olive oil. Season again with sea salt and cracked black pepper, and serve with the cheese and spinach muffins.
Cheese and spinach muffins
Ingredients
25g butter
200ml milk
100g baby spinach leaves
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarb soda
50g finely grated pecorino cheese
1 egg
80g soft goat’s cheese
8 vine-ripened cherry tomatoes
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C fan forced. Lightly grease 8 cups of a medium size muffin tin.
Heat butter and milk in a medium pan over medium heat. Add the spinach and stir for 1 minute until wilted. Remove from heat, cool slightly, then blend until smooth.
Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add parmesan, beaten egg and cooled spinach mixture. Crumble in goat’s cheese, then stir gently until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
Fill muffin tins with the mixture. Prick tomatoes several times, then place one in the centre of each muffin. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until muffins are risen and cooked through. Turn out onto a rack to cool slightly. Serve warm with soup.
Deb’s tips
I recently found a great little deli in Nagambie called Next Door. I picked up a lovely bottle of olive oil called Barbera extra virgin olive oil. This olive oil is wonderful for drizzling over this soup and also pasta dishes and salads. It’s a little more expensive than the olive oil you cook with, but it’s designed for garnishing, and it tastes delicious.
You can use fresh tomatoes when they are in season. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water for a few minutes, then rinse them under cold water to remove the skins and chop them.
Meredith Dairy also has lovely mild-flavoured goat’s cheese, which I use in this recipe.
The cheese and spinach muffins can be quite dense, but they go really well with this soup. They are also nice to eat on their own, and they microwave up well in only 10-20 seconds.
When greasing your muffin tins, you can use either butter or olive oil. A great tip is to dust the muffin cups with a generous teaspoon of freshly grated pecorino cheese or parmesan. This will give a lovely crunch to the bottom of the muffins.