Soup... its what's for dinner.

Last night, after considering two ingredients I had to use from the fridge because they were on the verge of being tossed (red peppers and fresh sage) and the weather outside, I decided to make a nice toasty pot of soup.

These are approximations, because I sucked at measuring:
3 red peppers
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion
5 sprigs fresh sage
a few tsp olive oil
equal parts butter/flour (for roux)
paprika
salt
pepper
veggie broth

I rubbed the peppers, onion, and garlic with a little olive oil and roasted them for 35 mins around 350 degrees, turning every 8 mins or so.

After peppers cooled, I peeled and de-seeded. And added the peppers, onions, and garlic in large-ish chunks to the vegetable broth. Simmer on low for 10 mins.

I removed the peppers from the broth and used my immersion blender to blend a few peppers/onions at a time, reincorporating it into the broth. After peppers had been blended, I put some of the mixture into a bowl with the sage and blended -- then mixed back into the larger soup pot.

In a separate small pot, I made a roux by melting a pad of margarine with flour, mixing often to keep from burning, but cooking gently to create a nuttier, less flour-y taste. After it started to brown, I gradually added a bit of the blended peppers/broth from the big pot, boiling to thicken. (Then reincorporated thicker mixture into large pot)

For a creamier texture, you can add a bit of cream, milk, yogurt, cream cheese, sour cream, etc. I used about 2 tbsp of lite cream cheese to add a little something extra. Salt, pepper, paprika to taste...

Roommate made garlic bread for dipping -- yum.