Rosemary Conley's double pepper soup recipe

Rosemary Conley's colourful and flavoursome pepper soup served with chive cream is guaranteed to impress - and you can freeze it too.

Ingredients

• 4 red peppers, deseeded and chopped
• 4 yellow peppers, deseeded and chopped
• 2 celery sticks, sliced
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2tsp chopped fresh lemon or common thyme
• 2 litres vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the chive cream

• 2tbsp virtually fat-free fromage frais
• 1tbsp finely chopped chives
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Put the red and the yellow peppers in two separate saucepans. Divide the celery, onions, garlic and thyme between each pan, then add half the vegetable stock and bay leaves to each pan. Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the vegetables are soft.
2. Remove the bay leaves and liquidise each soup separately until smooth, rinsing out the liquidiser between soups. Adjust the consistency with a little extra stock if required and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Return each soup to its original pan to reheat.
4. For the chive cream, mix together the fromage frais and chives and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5. To serve, pour equal quantities of each soup into two separate jugs. Holding a jug in each hand at either side of a soup bowl, pour both soups into the bowl. Garnish with the chive cream.