Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup

When I posted the 'Homemade Vegetable Broth', it was kind of incomplete without posting about me using it. I finally made this soup which all of us had liked a lot. Even though my friend gave me the recipe she had used, I just took the ingredients and came up with my own. I served with home made brioche croutons. We all loved at home and this can be easily tweaked to suit your taste preferences.

An updated picture when I served this with Focaccia instead of bread croutons.

Ingredients:
Roasted Red Bell pepper - 2 (see notes to make it yourself)
Red Onion - 2 small sliced
Garlic - 2 pods crushed
Thyme - 1 tsp dry or 1 TBSP fresh (If using dry, rub it on your palm and then add)
Tomatoes - 3 medium sized blanched and pureed (Or use 1 1/2 cups of tomato puree from the can)
Vegetable Broth - 2 1/2 cups (Home made or store bought)
Milk - 1/2 cup (You can increase vegetable broth or add water if you don't want to use milk or use heavy cream for a richer taste)
Olive Oil - 2 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Sugar - 1 tsp (optional)
Hot sauce - a dash or more to taste (I used sriracha)
Cayanne pepper - 1/2 TBSP or more to taste
Croutons - for serving (optional - see notes how to make it)

Method:
In a pan, heat olive oil. When hot, add garlic, onions. Saute till onions are cooked. Add roasted red bell pepper (discard the seeds) and tomato puree. Add some salt, thyme, cayanne, hot sauce, sugar. Let it all cook. Turn off the heat. When cool enough, blend it in a blender. Use a little bit of broth to facilitate the motor if needed. Pour it back to the pot and add the remaining vegetable broth, milk. Let it simmer. Adjust the salt and seasoning if required. You could add a bit of rice flour or corn starch to thicken it, but I didn't need to and it was thick enough. Serve hot, warm or cold with bread croutons or some toasted bread or some salad.

Notes:
To roast the red bell pepper yourself, rub it with a little bit of oil. Either char on the gas at low flame all around or broil it under the broiler till you get charred mark on them. Sprinkle some salt on the top and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Peel the skin off and removed the seeds and discard them. Use it in the recipe.

To make the bread croutons, slice the bread (best is brioche or challah or any bread which has some fat in it). Remove the crust and cut into 3/4" cubes. Place on a greased cookie sheet in an even layer. Drizzle couple of TBSP of olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper and toss to coat. Bake in the oven at 325 F for about 15 minutes flipping once to get all the sides toasted. You might have to increase or decrease the time depending on the size of the croutons, fat content in the bread and your oven. Keep an eye the first time.
If you are using store bought vegetable broth, make sure to buy the low sodium one and add salt only at the end after adding the vegetable broth. Since that has some salt already added, you will need less salt.

Enjoy!!