Tomato & Red Bell Soup with Basil Pesto

Ingredients

• 30 roma tomato, or 4 lg. cans organic tomatoes,drained
• 6 medium red bell pepper
• 3 small red chiles, seeded and chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar, or to taste
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon pesto sauce, made with 4 handfuls fresh basil leaves and 1 cup of olive oil

Method

• If using fresh tomatoes, blanch in boiling water and then plunge into ice cold water to skin. Squeeze out seeds.
• Grill the peppers until they are black; place in covered bowl to sweat and then peel. Finely chop.
• Place the chopped bells in a large saute pan with 4 tablespoons of olive oil with the red chile peppers. Add a bit of salt. and cook briefly. Add garlic and cook a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes with a touch more salt and vinegar and cook for about 10 minutes. Add stock and cook about 20 minutes or so. With a hand blender, puree briefly. Leave some chunks. Season to taste.
• In a food processor, puree the basil with a bit of salt. Slowly drizzle the olive oil through the hole on top of the processor while it is running. Add a bit more vinegar to taste. Serve on top of soup.

Notes

• SERVINGS: 12
• SOURCE: Adopted from Jamie Oliver