Red Pepper Vichyssoise

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• 4 medium red bell peppers
• 2 cups leeks, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups baking potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper, ground
• creme fraiche
• chopped fresh chives

Recipe

• 1 cut the peppers into thirds; remove seeds and membranes. place the peppers in a large saucepan; add water to cover. bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 6 minutes. drain and let cool. this will make it easy to remove the skins of the peppers. remove and discard the skin from the peppers. place the peppers in a blender, and cover and process until smooth. make sure you stop at least once to scrape down the sides of the blender. cover and chill thoroughly.
• 2 saute leeks in the butter in a dutch oven over medium high heat, stirring constantly, until tender. add broth and potato. bring to a boil. reduce heat, and simmer partially covered for 30 minutes or until the potato is tender.
• 3 place half of the potato-leek mixture in the container of a blender; cover and process until smooth, stopping once to scrape down the sides. repeat the procedure with the remaining potato mixure.
• 4 stir in the whipping cream, salt, and pepper. cover and chill thoroughly.
• 5 combine the pepper mixture and the potato mixture. stir well. to serve, ladle cold soup into individual bowls. top each serving with a dollop of creme fraiche and garnish with chopped chives.