Shrimp and Red Pepper Bisque

My cousin Rebecca sent me a recipe for roasted red pepper soup and asked me to give it a try. I thought it sounded a little bland (sorry Rebecca!), so I spiced it up a little and ended up with this flavorful dish. I knew it was a success when James went back for seconds.

This recipe could easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the shrimp.

Ingredients: 

5 red bell peppers
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 lb cheese or spinach tortellini
1 t sugar
1 t smoked paprika
3/4 cup half and half
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1 cup basil, loosely chopped
1 T olive oil
1 1/2 T Cajun spice mix
1 lb shrimp, peeled and veined

The most difficult part of this recipe is roasting the red peppers. The goal is to roast the peppers on a grill or under the broiler until they are partially blackened on all sides. In my stove, this took about three minutes per side, turning the peppers with tongs every three minutes until all sides were blackened and wrinkly.

Immediately place the blackened peppers in a paper grocery bag, clamping the bag shut and leaving to steam for 10 to 15 minutes. I used a pair of hemostats to clamp it shut (you'd be amazed how much these come in handy in the kitchen), but I suppose a clothespin would do if you don't have access to hemostats.

Remove stems, seeds, and skins from peppers. I found it was easiest to pull a chair up next to the trash can for this. The stems pulled off easily, and the seeds and skin are easily scraped and pulled off if you cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Slice one of the peppers into thin strips and set aside. The other four peppers will be used for the main content of the soup.

Bring broth to a bowl in a large pot. Add the four unsliced peppers and cook for five minutes. While peppers are cooking, combine shrimp, one thinly sliced pepper, olive oil, and Cajun spices in a bowl and mix well. Heat a frying pan to medium-high heat and add this mixture to frying pan to sauté, stirring occasionally, while you work on the rest of the soup.

Not the most appetizing step in the meal - raw shrimp isn't pretty.

When peppers have cooked in broth for five minutes, remove peppers and some of the broth to a blender and puree until smooth. Repeat this until soup is one uniform texture and no chunks of pepper remain. Return pureed red peppers to soup pot and bring to a boil. Add sugar and paprika and mix well. Add tortellini and cook for 10 minutes, or until tortellini is soft.

When tortellini is cooked, add grated Romano cheese and stir until melted. Add half and half and basil, stir until mixed, and remove from heat. When shrimp is cooked through (opaque and easily cut), add shrimp mixture to the rest of soup and stir until mixed.

Serve hot with a dry white wine. Serves four to six people... or two if you live with a guy who just got home from the gym.

References:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Red-Bell-Pepper-Bisque-with-Shrimp-and-Romano-Cheese-103119
http://www.foodrepublic.com/2011/11/04/how-make-roasted-red-peppers