Fire Roasted Tomato and Red Pepper Halloween Soup

When I was still a youngster back in India, we learned everything there was to know about American culture from those American Culture for Dummies books a.k.a Archie Comics. I first learnt of Halloween in Archie Comics as a holiday, which involved costumes, and hitting the neighbours for cheap candy like it was a right. Archie Comics in all their PG-ness never really mentioned two really important aspects of Halloween (or what Archie and Veronica really did at Lover’s Lane). They never really covered the part where it is the one day where girls can dress in their skimpiest, something the male junta does not seem to mind. I for one encourage freedom of expression. The other aspect of this dentist’s dream holiday that remained unexplained was the pumpkin connection wherein pumpkin based recipes are dumped on the general public during this period, never to be heard of for the rest of the year. Recently my wife cooked me a delicious soup with a recipe inspired by Souvlaki for the Soul. Here it is with a Halloween twist.

Ingredients
6 large Tomatoes cut in half
1-2 red Red Peppers, quartered
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 Potato, peeled, roughly chopped
1 red Chili finely sliced
2 cups Vegetable Stock
1 tsp Tomato paste
1/2 cup Basil leaves
6 bowl sized Pumpkins

Method
Set your oven to broil
Place the tomatoes and capsicum in a baking dish
Sprinkle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and salt and pepper
Roast for about 45 min or until tender till tomatoes and peppers are soft
Add some olive oil to a pan and fry the chili
Add the stock, the potatoes and the tomato paste
Bring to the boil and then lower the heat
Cook for about 10 min or until the potatoes are tender
Once cooked, remove the pot off the heat and set aside.
Your tomatoes and capsicums should be ready about now
Remove from the oven and add them to the potato mixture.
Add the basil
Blend the soup to desired texture
Serve in a hollowed out pumpkin