Roasted Pepper Soup With Parmesan Toast

Hurray fall is here, I can start making soups again. This is by far my favorite soup, and I love soup. It is supposed to be served just cold, not over-chilled. But I prefer it hot.

Serves 4
1 onion quartered
4 garlic cloves unpeeled
2 red bell peppers seeded and quartered
2 yellow bell peppers seeded and quartered
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
grated rind and juice of 1 orange
1 can (7 oz) chopped tomatoes
21/2 cups cold water
salt and pepper
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives to garnish (optional)
For the hot Parmesan Toast
1 medium baguette
1/4 c butter
6 oz good quality Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the onion, garlic, and peppers in roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil, and mix well. Turn pieces of pepper skin side up and roast 25-30 min. or until slightly charred. Squeeze garlic flesh our of the skins into a blender or food processor. Add roasted vegies, orange rind and juice, tomatoes and water. process until smooth. Press the mixture through a strainer into a vowl using a champignon or the back of a ladle. Season with salt and pepper and chill 30 min. (I don't chill it. I like it hot.)

Make the Parmesan toasts when you are ready to serve the soup. Preheat the broiler to high. tear or cut the baguette in half lengthwise, then tear or cut across to make 4 large pieces. Butter the bread and top with thin shavings of Parmesan cheese. Transfer cheese topped baguette pieces to a large baking sheet and toast under broiler for a few min. until topping is well browned.

Garnish with chives and fresh black pepper.