Sunshine Soup
by Nigella. Featured in KITCHENIntroduction
There was a British singing outfit in the Seventies called Instant Sunshine and this is it in soup form. The silkiness comes from the peppers which are quickly blitzed in a hot oven, then blended with the sweetcorn which is cooked in stock. There's nothing more to it, and it is health-giving and mood-boosting — providing sunshine on a rainy day.
I like this smooth and velvety with nuggets of the sweetcorn running through it, though you can make it as liquidized or as rough as you please. As for the peppers: it wouldn't matter if you used 2 yellow or 2 orange.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
There was a British singing outfit in the Seventies called Instant Sunshine and this is it in soup form. The silkiness comes from the peppers which are quickly blitzed in a hot oven, then blended with the sweetcorn which is cooked in stock. There's nothing more to it, and it is health-giving and mood-boosting — providing sunshine on a rainy day.
I like this smooth and velvety with nuggets of the sweetcorn running through it, though you can make it as liquidized or as rough as you please. As for the peppers: it wouldn't matter if you used 2 yellow or 2 orange.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Serves: 4 as a starter, or 2 as supper in its entirety
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 orange pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic infused olive oil
- 1 litre vegetable stock or chicken stock (good-quality powder, cube or concentrate)
- 500 grams frozen sweetcorn kernels
- Maldon sea salt flakes (to taste)
- freshly ground pepper (to taste)
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 orange bell pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic flavored oil
- 1 quart vegetable broth or chicken stock (good-quality powder, cube or concentrate)
- 3½ cups frozen sweetcorn kernels
- kosher salt (to taste)
- freshly ground pepper (to taste)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 250°C/230°C Fan/gas mark 9/450°F and cover a smallish baking sheet with foil.
- Remove the core, seeds and white membrane from the peppers then cut the peppers into strips and place on the prepared baking sheet shiny-side down. Sprinkle with the oil and smoosh them about so that all sides are a little covered by oil, then leave them, shiny-skin-side up this time. Roast them in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Pour 1 litre freshly boiled water into a pan, adding the vegetable bouillon powder or chicken stock cube or concentrate to make up to the required strength. Add the frozen corn niblets, bring back to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and let bubble for about 20 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove about a cupful of corn, and set to one side while you blend the rest of the corn along with all its cooking liquid and the blistered peppers, then toss the set-aside corn niblets back into the blended, but not too smooth, soup, and season to taste.
- Preheat the oven to 250°C/230°C Fan/gas mark 9/450°F and cover a smallish baking sheet with foil.
- Remove the core, seeds and white membrane from the peppers then cut the peppers into strips and place on the prepared baking sheet shiny-side down. Sprinkle with the oil and smoosh them about so that all sides are a little covered by oil, then leave them, shiny-skin-side up this time. Roast them in the oven for 25 minutes.
- Pour 1 litre freshly boiled water into a pan, adding the vegetable bouillon powder or chicken stock cube or concentrate to make up to the required strength. Add the frozen corn niblets, bring back to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and let bubble for about 20 minutes.
- Using a slotted spoon, remove about a cupful of corn, and set to one side while you blend the rest of the corn along with all its cooking liquid and the blistered peppers, then toss the set-aside corn niblets back into the blended, but not too smooth, soup, and season to taste.
Additional Information
MAKE AHEAD:
The soup can be made up to 3 days ahead: transfer to a non-metallic bowl, cool, cover and refrigerate as quickly as possible. Reheat gently in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, until piping hot.
FREEZE:
The cooled soup can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat as above.
MAKE AHEAD:
The soup can be made up to 3 days ahead: transfer to a non-metallic bowl, cool, cover and refrigerate as quickly as possible. Reheat gently in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, until piping hot.
FREEZE:
The cooled soup can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat as above.
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What 3 Others have said
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Posted by sibo222 on 11th June 2021
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Posted by Ish0071 on 7th June 2020
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Posted by Fan in Japan on 29th May 2020
Show more commentsI didn’t have garlic infused oil. So I put two whole peeled garlic cloves in and boiled them with the sweet corn and blitzed them in with everything else. Gives a very nice subtle garlic undertone to the soup.
Made this a couple of weeks ago for supper. Followed the recipe. The end result ... a luscious bowlful of sunshine on a rainy day.
Made a half-sized version of this for supper tonight, using 600 ml of vegetable stock, and it was delicious! We're not huge eaters and found the half-sized version did two people nicely: as Nigella suggests, "supper in its entirety."