Roasted Vegetable Soup

There is something so comforting about a bowl of warm soup in this unrelenting winter.  NY has been having a considerably warm spell with temperatures in the 40s for the past 2 days, and I'm lovin' it.  That didn't stop me from roasting veggies for dinner.  The plan was to have a soup with some roasted veggies, but somewhere along the roasting process, my thoughts turned to a roasted veggie soup - how good does that sound?  So, when the roasted veggies came out sizzling from the oven, I cooled them off and used most of it to make the soup and saved some for a wrap for tomorrow's lunch.  Chunks of carrots, parsnips, onions, red and yellow peppers, potatoes, and zucchini were sprinkled with salt, pepper, and olive oil.  I sprinkled some dried thyme over the veggies before roasting the veggies at 425 degrees.

Once the veggies were cooled, I pureed them with vegetable stock.  You can also use chicken stock as the base for the soup.  The soup was velvety smooth and a gorgeous golden color - blending the colors of carrots, yellow and red peppers.  A crusty loaf of bread was a perfect accompaniment to the soup.

To prepare the roasted vegetable soup you need:

2 of each - carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions, zucchini

1 of each - red and yellow bell pepper

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1/2 tsp drid thyme

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Salt to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

Heat the oven to 425 degrees.  Cut the vegetable into chunks, approximately the same size so that they are roasted at the same time.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, olive oil, thyme and spread on a baking sheet.  Roast for 30 to 40 minutes until done.  Remove from oven and cool. 

Pour 2 cups of vegetable stock in the soup pot.  Add the cooled veggies to the blender with 2 cups of stock.  Puree the mixture.  You can use extra stock if you want the soup thinner.  I like the soup chunky.  Do not use hot stock in the blender as it could be a disaster with the steam buildup.  Pour the pureed mixture into the soup pot and heat.  Serve warm with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil.