I had the idea for this roasted courgette and sweet pepper soup when I made the roasted sweet pepper sauce. This soup variation is delicious, rich, filling and low-fat, as well as reflux*-friendly.
Although it takes a little bit of time to make (not too much time), it is actually a very easy recipe.
If you are a reflux sufferer who does not tolerate garlic, simply leave it out of the recipe. The soup will still taste delicious as the other ingredients pack a powerful flavour punch! For those around your dinner table who do not suffer from reflux, this soup is delicious with the addition of a sprinkling of ground chilli flakes (these can be added to individual portions so everyone can have the soup as spicy – or not – as they wish).
Ingredients (for 8 generous portions as a main meal)
- 10 peppers (mixture of red, orange and yellow – red and orange are tastier, in my opinion, than yellow, so I use more of those)
- 8 large courgettes
- 2 bulbs of garlic
- 4tbsp olive oil
- a generous sprinkling of dried oregano
- sea salt
- 1l chicken stock (or vegetable stock for a vegetarian / vegan alternative) – I use Knorr Chicken Stock Pots (2, dissolved in 1l boiling water)
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 220°C (fan).
Cut the courgettes into quarters lengthways, then cut each length into roughly 1.5cm pieces. Place into a large roasting tin (you may need to spread these over two roasting tins, as there will be quite a lot to start with), drizzle 2tbsp olive oil over the top, add a light sprinkling of sea salt and a generous sprinkling of oregano (how much oregano you use depends on how much you like the taste).
De-seed and cut the peppers into large chunks. Remove all the garlic cloves from their bulbs, removing any excess/loose ‘skin’, without peeling the garlic cloves. Lightly squash the cloves, using the side of a large knife and pressure from the palm of your hand – enough to burst the skins a little and flatten the cloves a bit, but not enough to peel the cloves or break them up. Place the peppers into a large roasting tin (or two, depending on the size of your tins!), drizzle 2tbsp olive oil over the top, add a light sprinkling of sea salt and a generous sprinkling of oregano (how much oregano you use depends on how much you like the taste).
Place your tins in the oven (you may need to do this in stages if you can’t fit them all in at once). Roast for approximately 40 minutes, mixing halfway through cooking. You are aiming for the vegetables to be very well cooked and soft, with blackened bits, and for the garlic cloves to have gone very soft.
Put the roasted courgettes (and any remaining roasting juices) into a blender, add just a little bit of chicken stock (enough to aid the blending process) and blend to desired consistency (I like to leave a little bit of courgette texture so I don’t blend it to a completely smooth consistency, but almost). Transfer the resulting purée into a large pan / stockpot.
Tip: If you are doing this while it is still hot, ensure the jug on your blender is heat proof, that the jug is not over-full (do in batches if needed) and that the removable centre section of the lid is removed. Before you start blending, place the lid (with the hole in the top) firmly on the jug, then loosely hold a tea towel folded into a square over the hole. Doing this will ensure that steam can escape and that your hot sauce doesn’t burst out of the blender.
Repeat the process with the peppers and garlic, including skins. Do not pour the blended peppers directly into the blended courgettes, but pour them into a fine sieve resting above the courgette ‘soup’. Do this in small batches and, using a spoon, stir the sauce so that it can go through the sieve, leaving behind only the tiny pieces of garlic and pepper skins. Keep doing this until you have sieved the entire contents of the blender and you cannot push any more pulp through the sieve. Use the rest of the chicken or vegetable stock stock to ‘wash out’ the blender jug and get every drop of this delicious roasted sweet pepper purée into your bowl.
Stir the courgette and pepper purées well to ensure they are completely mixed together. Taste and, if required, adjust seasoning by adding salt. The roasted courgette and sweet pepper soup will be quite thick, so you can add additional stock to make it runnier, if you prefer.
You can make this in advance and then re-heat it in a pan. Serve hot with delicious fresh bread of your choice!
Any leftovers (if there are any!) can be refrigerated or frozen to be eaten another day in its soup form or used as a sauce for pasta, fish, and meat.
Gloriously Simple, Gloriously Low Fat, Gloriously Reflux-Friendly, Gloriously Good!
*Please note I am not a doctor, speech therapist or in any way medically qualified. The recipes are a combination of my interpretation of the rules outlined in the ‘Dropping Acid – The Reflux Diet’ book and ingredients that work for my reflux. If you believe you suffer from reflux, please seek advice from a medical professional to confirm your diagnosis and work out the best course of treatment/management for you. I hope that my recipes can help you as part of this management. The recipes are, by their nature, very low in fat, so are also suitable for anyone wishing to follow a low-fat diet.
