Five Recipes Ginger: Red pepper and ginger soup

The ginger theme is getting tired, but I’ve committed to it now. Let’s get this one out of the way, shall we? Not to belittle it, it is very tasty and handy to have in the freezer for those cold Brussels evenings after training, but I have other plans on the way.

So without further ado:

Red Pepper and ginger soup

Ingredients

3 red peppers, halved, cored and deseeded

1 red onion, quartered

2 garlic cloves, unpeeled

1 tsp olive oil

5cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 large potato, chopped

900ml vegetable stock

Method

Place the peppers, onion and garlic in a nonstick roasting tin. Roast in a pre-heated oven (200 degrees Celsius) for 40 minutes or until the peppers have blistered and the onion and garlic are soft. If the onion quarters start to brown too much, cover them with the pepper halves.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the ginger, cumin and coriander over a low heat for 1-2 minutes or until softened. Add the potato and stir well, season to taste and pour in the stock. cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove the vegetables from the oven. Place the peppers in a polythene bag, tie the top and leave to cool (the steam produced in the bag makes it easier to remove the skin when the peppers are cold). Add the onions to the potato mixture and squeeze out the garlic pulp into the saucepan (this is gross but strangely satisfying). Peel the peppers and add all but one half to the soup. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Blend the soup until smooth. Return to the saucepan and, if necessary, thin with a little water.

Spoon into warm bowls, Slice the remaining pepper half and arrange on top with a spoonful of fromage frais.