Vegan or Not-Red Pepper and Potato Soup with Oatmeal, Black Pepper and Rosemary Crackers

Most of you who follow my blog have probably figured out that I cook what is in the pantry and refrigerator. Rarely, do I make an extra trip to the grocery store for ingredients.  That is how this soup came to be. This is a classic red pepper and this soup was made with chicken stock but it can be made with vegetable stock and the entire meal will be vegan.  Adding the potato just gives this soup a little extra deliciousness. Sometimes I add cooked, chopped chicken.  This is a soup that is always good.
The crackers are made with oatmeal and are hard to resist.  You might consider making a double batch.  These are baked on a pizza stone but you can use a cookie sheet, also. You need to bake them to make them crispy.  Some of these type breads that I make can be cooked on a griddle, but these will not crisp up when cooked that way.  Previously, my son had suggested cracked black pepper and fresh rosemary, so that was added to the crackers.
I hope that you enjoy this meal as much as we do!

Soup
6 cups of Stock, reserve 1 cup
3 Red Bell Peppers, chopped small
1 large Sweet Onion, chopped small
1 large Potato, cut into 1/4 " cubes
Sepay Groves Olive Oil
Salt

In a deep skillet, heat olive oil and add peppers and onions.  Cook on low-medium. Allow the juices to sweat out and reduce.  When all of the liquid is gone, transfer peppers and onions to a large stock pot. Add 5 cups of stock.  Bring to a boil and let cook until peppers and onion are tender.  Then set aside to cool.
While that is boiling, add more olive oil to the skillet and heat.  Add the potatoes and season with salt.  Let the potatoes start to brown.  Once the potatoes start to stick, use a spatula to release them from the pan and then add the other cup of stock.  The reason for this is so that the potatoes with be flavored with the stock. Cook until the potatoes are tender.  If the pan gets dry, add a little water.
When the pepper, onions and stock are cooled, add no more than 2 cups at a time to a standard 8 cup blender.  Right here, let me tell you this from my personal experience, let the soup cool and do not add more than 2 cups at a time to the blender. Hot soup is very painful and more than 2 cups will go out of the top of the blender, no matter how much you try to stop it. Blend in batches until smooth. Then return to the stock pot when all the peppers and onion have been blended smooth. Add the potato and stock to the rest of the soup.  Reheat and serve.

Oatmeal Crackers with Black Pepper and Rosemary
Preheat the oven to 525 degrees

2 cups of Oatmeal
1 cup of Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of Baking Powder
1/2 salt
1/2 sugar
3 Tablespoons of Fresh Rosemary Leaves
Cracked Black Pepper, I used about 1 Tablespoon, but use the amount that you prefer
1 cup of Hot Water
Sepay Groves Olive Oil
Coarse Salt

Mix all of the dry ingredients, except coarse salt,  together and then make a well.  Add the hot water and mix thoroughly.  The dough will be sticky.  Make 8 even dough balls.  Use a pastry sheet or wax paper to roll out the dough. Pour  a splash of olive oil on to the rolling surface.  Coat the dough ball in the olive oil. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough very thin.  Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake at 525 degrees on a pizza stone or cookie sheet. Cooking the first side until the edges browned. Flip the cracker over and cook on the other side until it is crisp.  Repeat until all of the dough balls are cooked.

Enjoy!

Deloris

Printable Recipe: https://sites.google.com/site/basilandrosemarys/red-pepper-and-potato-soup-with-oatmeal-black-pepper-and-rosemary-crackers