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Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tomato and Orzo Soup
5 from 6 votes

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Tomato and Orzo Soup

This is a soup you'll want to make again and again year round! Thanks to the canned tomatoes and good quality bell peppers almost always available you don't have to wait for summer to roll around to make it. It's brimming with flavor it's perfect for lunch or dinner.

Prep Time
20 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 20 mins
Servings: 6
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

  • 2 red bell pepper about 20 oz, large
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion chopped (1 1/2 cups, medium
  • 1 carrot diced (3/4 cup, large
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • 3 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth low-sodium
  • 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes Hunt's petite
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste Hunt's
  • salt freshly ground
  • black pepper freshly ground
  • 1 tsp sugar (if needed)
  • 1 basil plus more chopped basil for serving, small sprig, fresh
  • 2/3 cup orzo
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
  • Parmesan Cheese for serving, finely shredded

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Heat the broiler to high and arrange an oven rack in the upper third of the oven. Place the bell peppers directly on a baking sheet line with aluminum foil. 
  2. Roast peppers, turning occasionally, until they've blistered and blackened well on all sides, about 20 minutes. Remove peppers from oven and place on a cutting board then cover with a glass bowl (or alternately place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap). 
  3. Once cool, peel peppers. Slice peppers in half and remove stem and seeds. Devein peppers then chop peppers. Set aside.
  4. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and carrots and saute 4 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1 minute longer. 
  5. Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes, tomatoes paste and bell pepper. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Taste and add sugar if desired. Add in basil sprig. 
  6. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until veggies have softened, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile cook orzo according to directions on package.
  7. Remove basil sprig, stir half of the cream into the soup (at this point you can thin the soup with a little more broth if desired, I like mine fairly thick). 
  8. Let soup cool slightly then puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender (only fill blender halfway full then remove center insert from lid and cover with a folded kitchen towel). 
  9. Serve warm topping each serving with orzo, a little more of the remaining cream, parmesan and chopped basil.