Italian red pepper soup with cheesy flatbread recipe

Our Italian red pepper soup (opens in new tab) is full of the flavours of the med with sweet peppers and fresh herbs, all complemented by the salty goats cheese toasts. This Italian red pepper soup with cheesy flatbread is an easy but flavour lunch to serve a crowd. Our recipe serves 6, but is easily doubled if you need to make a big batch. Everyone will love tearing into the irresistible cheesy bread and dunking it into the homemade red pepper soup. This Italian red pepper soup is a great way to use up leftover roasted peppers, if you have any, or you can simply roast some before making it, or buy them in a jar.

Ingredients

• 4tbsp olive oil
• 1 large red onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 large skinned, chopped tomatoes, seeds discarded
• 4 roasted red peppers, skins removed, roughly chopped
• 1tsp dried oregano
• 850ml vegetable stock
• 1tsp sugar
• ½ packet fresh basil leaves
• 1 focaccia or flatbread, approx 200g
• 125g log goat’s cheese, sliced into discs
• 1 small bunch chervil or chives, roughly chopped

Method

1. Heat 1tbsp olive oil in a large pan and fry the onion for 10 mins, until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more mins. Add the tomatoes, peppers, oregano, stock, sugar and basil leaves, then leave to simmer for 30 mins.
2. To make the cheesy flatbread, preheat the grill to high. Arrange the rounds of goat’s cheese on top of the bread and sprinkle over the chervil or chives. Grill for 2-3 mins until the cheese has started to melt.
3. Serve the soup with the toasted flatbread, tearing to share.

Top tips for making Italian red pepper soup

For a smoother soup, blitz in a blender or food processor before serving. Making this low calorie meals (opens in new tab) even lower by serving without the flatbread.