Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients:
- 1 cup of olive oil.
- 3 tablespoons
of minced or diced garlic.
- 2 medium sized jars of Roasted Red Peppers.
- 2 cups of heavy whipping cream.
- Salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne.
- A handful of pine nuts.
- A handful of fresh basil.

Preparation:

1) Place the cup of oil and the garlic in a large soup pot and cook on lowest heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
2) Open both jars of roasted red peppers and set aside half of the oil that is in the jars.
3) Place roasted red peppers and remaining oil that was in the jars into blender.
4) Blend until smooth; work your way from the lowest blender setting to the highest.
5) Without stopping the blender, very slowly pour remaining oil that was in the jars through the top of the blender to create an emulsified mixture.
6) Pour red pepper mixture into soup pot and turn up heat to maximum.
7) Add heavy whipping cream; substitute half-and-half if desired.
8) Add salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne to taste; I suggest about 1 to 2 teaspoons each.
9) Keep a close eye on the soup, as it will greatly expand in the pot when it comes to a boil.
10) Reduce heat to medium when soup comes to a boil and let cook for about 5 minutes. Avoid overcooking the soup as it will Rbreak' and you'll see the oil separate to the top.
11) Slowly toast pine nuts on lowest setting until golden brown; chop coarsely and add to soup.
12) Thinly slice the fresh basil and either mix into soup or sprinkle over individual servings

Recipe by John Grayson who once worked in the restaurant industry and was born and raised in Spain. He came to the US about 14 years ago. This soup can now be found at Gerrards at the deli counter.