Yellow pepper, carrot, tahini & oregano soup · Tahini-lemon cream · Roasted pistachios · Sumac
Seasonal sensory soup
Lustrously thick and velvet-smooth, yet with a summery lightness on the palate, this soup will have you eagerly awaiting the season’s crop of yellow bell peppers, just around the corner now (the UK seasons starts in August).
The Middle Eastern flavours work together in perfect balance: the umami sweetness of the long-sautéed vegetables and garlic against the earthy, slightly bitter tahini; base notes of smoky paprika; aromatic oregano in the mid-range; brightness and palate-cleansing acidity from the lemon and sumac; all topped off with satisfyingly chompy nibs of salted pistachio.
Each individual ingredient goes with each and every other, layer upon layer of compatibility crescendoing in a sense of rightness, wholeness, happiness and contentment. Food that makes you smile. It’s definitely special enough for guests, although you may want to do all the lavishing on yourself!
For an extra-sumptuous, voluptuously textured soup, I like to finish it off with additional raw cacao butter, although that’s entirely optional.
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What’s great about it
A single serving (2 ladles/300g) contains:
Nearly three of your ≥5-A-DAY
A third of your weekly plant target
And a fifth of your recommended daily intake of fibre (6g of 30g).
The bright orange/yellow colour signifies carotenoids, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals that give yellow and orange fruit and veg their vibrant colour. Carotenoids protect against certain kinds of cancer, improve immune function, cardiometabolic and eye health.
In peak season
UK-grown yellow peppers are at their best and most widely available August-October (mid-summer into early autumn).
How many of your ≥5-A-Day: 2.8 per 300g serving
Plant points: 8-10
Time
Prep: 20-30 minutes
Cooking: 75-90 minutes / 1¼-1½ hours
Ingredients (serves 8)
40g grass-fed cultured butter (dairy-free/vegan alternatives: organic raw cacao butter, organic cold-pressed olive or avocado oil), see recommendations
400g organic onion, peeled and trimmed weight, diced (5 small-med)
40g organic garlic, peeled and trimmed weight (approx. 1 small bulb), chopped finely
¾ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
750g organic carrot, peeled weight, diced
750g organic yellow bell pepper, peeled and deseeded weight, diced (5 med-large)
850-950ml filtered water
8g/3 stems fresh oregano, leaves and stems
2 teaspoons finely ground pink Himalayan/sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
To finish:
60g/3 tablespoons organic light tahini (I love Sunita’s)
60g organic raw cacao butter to enrich, optional
Tahini-lemon cream:
30g/1½ tablespoons organic light tahini
30g/2 tablespoons lemon juice
Filtered water to thin
To garnish:
Shelled salted roasted pistachios, chopped along their length to give pretty nibs
Ground sumac
A few extra fresh oregano leaves
Preserved lemon, chopped into very fine dice (optional)
Method
Melt the butter/cacao butter or heat the olive/avocado oil in a large heavy-based saucepan. Add the chopped onion and garlic and sauté on a low heat for 8-10 minutes until soft and translucent, adding thesweet smoked paprika after 5 minutes.
Add the diced carrots and cover with the lid, cocking it very slightly. Continue to sauté until they’ve softened and slumped down slightly in the pan and begun to release moisture – you’ll notice a slight pooling at the bottom of the pan. Times will vary depending on the size of the dice, but this stage is likely to take approximately 15-20 minutes. Stir every five minutes or so, covering fully with the lid if the veg begin to stick to the bottom.
Add the chopped yellow pepper and continue to sauté for another few minutes.
Add just enough of the water to cover the vegetables, erring on the side of caution: you can always add more later if the soup is too thick for your liking, but you can’t take it out.
Add two of the oregano stems, salt and pepper, cover with the pan lid, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cocking the lid very slightly, and cook until the vegetables are completely tender, about 40-50 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat, add the final oregano stem, replace the pan lid, and set aside for 20-30 minutes, simultaneously allowing the oregano to soften and infuse and the soup to cool slightly before blending. If you want to enrich the soup further, add the optional 60g cacao butter here too.
Using a stick blender or transferring the soup to a food processor or blender, add the tahini and blend the soup to a completely smooth, velvet-like pureé, scraping down the sides with a spatula once or twice as needed.
If the soup is too thick for your liking, now is the time to add a little more water. Check the seasoning and adjust to taste if required.
Ideally, allow to cool completely and reheat to serve. It’s not your imagination, soups, stews, braises, curries and so on do all taste better the next day. Check out The Perfect Ragu on p? for an explanation of how cooking, cooling and reheating unlocks the full flavour potential of any dish. Spoiler: flavour molecules are temperature sensitive. The science of food is so cool, huh?!🤓
When you’re ready to serve, make up the tahini-lemon cream. Put the tahini in a small bowl, add the lemon juice and whisk to a smooth emulsion with a small balloon whisk. Then add filtered water to thin to the consistency of pouring cream.
To serve, ladle the soup into bowls. Drizzle and dot each with tahini-lemon cream – feathering optional, sometimes it’s nice to faff with presentation. Follow with a scatter of nibbed pistachios and a generous dusting of sumac – the sourness works wonderfully against the earthiness of the tahini and smoky paprika.Finish with a few fresh oregano leaves (plus a few dice of preserved lemon, if using).
Cool and refrigerate or freeze any remaining soup. Will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days and up to 3 months in the freezer.
Recommended products & stockists
Isigny Ste-Mère Unpastuerised Salted Butter – a raw milk cultured butter from grass-fed cows in the Isigny Ste-Mère PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) region of Normandy. Available from Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, £3.70/250g. No point using Bungay Butter here as its extra finesse will be lost in a soup.
My favourite cacao butter is Seed Chocolate’s ultra-premium Organic Unrefined Cacao Butter, made from the ‘King of Cacao’, the rare and highly coveted Criollo cacao bean. Available direct (£4.95 for 100g). If you prefer to buy locally and/or avoid postage and packaging, Locavore stock the Raw Chocolate Company Organic Cacao Butter Buttons (£5.73 for 200g), Natural Balance carry Organic Traditions Cacao Butter (£7.99 for 200g), while Roots, Fruits & Wholefoods sometimes have 100g bags of Choc Chick Organic Cacao Butter (£4.95), ideal if you want to try a small amount.
Duchy Organic Spanish and Italian EVOOs are great everyday multipurpose olive oils, £3.95 and £5.80/500ml respectively. Organic, mildly flavoured, and good value for money, I use them for cooking as well as room temperature uses (salad dressings, dips, and drizzling) reserving premium EVOOs for room temperature uses only.
Clearspring Organic Avocado Oil – unrefined and cold-pressed, available locally from Natural Balance and Roots, Fruits & Wholefoods (£8.89/250ml). Or the more widely available and much better value Olivado Faitrade Organic Extra Virgin Avocado Oil – the ‘extra virgin’ bit means it’s also cold-pressed (£4.65/250ml from Waitrose).
Sunita Organic Light Tahini is available locally from Natural Balance, Roots, Fruits & Wholefoods and Locavore.
References
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