Sweet Pepper Soup

Ingredients

4 large onions, coarsely chopped
8 shallots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup (one stick) unsalted butter
8 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
3 baking potatoes (8 ounces each), peeled and thinly sliced
12 sweet red peppers (3 pounds) cored, seeded and coarsely chopped
11 cups chicken stock or canned chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt, optional
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (white pepper may be used also) Creme Fraiche or dairy sour cream, for garnish (optional)

Instructions
Combine onions, shallots and garlic with butter in a large Dutch oven. Cook mixture, uncovered, over medium heat until the vegetables are wilted, for 10 minutes. Add the carrots and cook for 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and the red peppers, and cook mixture for 10 minutes more.
Add the stock or broth and parsley. Bring the mixture to boiling over medium heat. Lower the heat and simmer the soup until vegetables are just tender, for 15 minutes. Season the soup with salt and black or white pepper.

Working in batches, puree the soup in the container of a food processor. Reheat the soup gently, to serving temperature.

Garnish with the creme fraiche or sour cream if desired. Makes 12 servings.
NOTE: Chicken stock: fat-free, homemade is perfect, no salt added is even better. Fat free sour cream works great.

From qconline.com/ Ron Schriefer