Spicy Carlin Pea Soup with Roasted Peppers
Spicy Carlin Pea Soup with Roasted Peppers is easy, satisfying, and full of flavour. Using everyday vegetables, tinned pulses, and jarred peppers, this warmly spicy soup cooks in around thirty minutes. I’ve used British grown carlin peas, but you could swap in chickpeas or your favourite beans.
Perfect when the weather’s turning cooler, the sweet roasted peppers bring back a hint of summer sunshine. Even more delicious served with little cubes of cheese on top to melt in.
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Although, right now, the weather isn’t cold where I am, the official start of autumn was quickly followed by grey skies. Which means my thoughts returned to homemade soups.
But hopefully, there’ll still be some beautiful, sunny days to come. So, I like to think that the soup recipe I’m sharing today is a sort of halfway house. While my Spicy Carlin Pea Soup includes the hearty pulses that are a mainstay of so many autumn and winter soups, it also harks back to sunnier days with sweet roasted peppers.
I first made it at the turning of winter into spring in March this year. Now, I think its time has come again. As well as enjoying its earthy yet sweetish flavour, I also love this soup because I can quickly make it with everyday veg plus two convenient store cupboard ingredients. Tinned beans and jarred roasted peppers.
CARLIN PEAS
The first time I made this Spicy Carlin Pea Soup was also the first time I tried carlin peas. I’d bought a tin a few weeks before as an add-on to my Moorland Veg Box delivery. They’re grown in Britain by Hodmedod’s and if you’re trying to reduce food miles, then swapping some of your usual imported pulses for British grown ones must be a good idea, mustn’t it?
I found that the carlin peas had quite a mild taste. A little sweet and a little nutty, both of which worked well in the spicy soup. But if you can’t get them, just swap in your favourite bean or pulse. Of the more widely available ones, I think chickpeas or kidney beans would be good.
SPICY CARLIN PEA SOUP WITH ROASTED PEPPERS
This easy, gorgeous soup is a variation on my Roasted Red Pepper & Borlotti Bean Soup. But, as well as swapping in carlin peas for borlotti, I also used a jar of mixed yellow and red roasted peppers instead of just red. As well as having a subtly different flavour I loved the lighter, golden-orange hue the yellow ones gave the soup.
I also decided to make the spicing a little more complex. So, as well as the smoked paprika and chilli flakes of the original, you’ll also find a good dose of ground cumin.
My Spicy Carlin Pea Soup is just as easy as its predecessor though. You start off by sautéing onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in olive oil. Next, you stir in the carlin peas along with the chopped peppers and spices.
When they’re combined you can add stock. I prefer chicken but you could use vegetable if you want the soup to be entirely plant based. Finally, I add a squirt of tomato puree and a splash of Balsamic vinegar for balancing acidity. A pinch of sugar rounds things nicely but leave out if you prefer.
Then it’s just a case of simmering until the vegetables are tender. Ten to fifteen minutes should do it. I like most of my soups to be neither very chunky nor completely smooth. So, I go in with my stick blender and whizz for just a few seconds.
SERVING SPICY CARLIN PEA SOUP
For colour, I sprinkle over some chopped parsley when serving. But you can really take this soup to the next level with a few cubes of cheese scattered over the top. These will slowly melt in as you eat. I love a tangy sheep’s cheese which contrasts wonderfully with the spicy, earthy yet sweetish soup. Yum!
If you’re particularly hungry, then serve with bread or perhaps some Scottish Oatcakes. You could even make some crunchy croutons. I’ve included how to make them in my recipe for Creamy White Bean Soup.
Using everyday veg plus a few convenient store cupboard ingredients, I think Spicy Carlin Pea Soup with Roasted Peppers is a belter. With hearty pulses, warmly spicy but with a hint of sunshine from the peppers, I hope you’ll agree it’s a tasty bowlful at any time of year.
Spicy Carlin Pea Soup with Roasted Peppers
Using everyday vegetables, tinned pulses, and jarred peppers, this warmly spicy soup cooks in around thirty minutes. If you don't have carlin peas, swap in chickpeas, borlotti beans or your favourite pulses.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions skinned, roughly chopped
- 1 medium carrot diced small
- 1 stick celery finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
- salt & black pepper to taste
- 350 g roasted peppers from a jar drained, deseeded, roughly chopped
- 230 g tinned carlin peas or other pulse drained weight
- 1 rounded tsp ground cumin
- 1 level tsp smoked paprika
- 0.5 - 1 tsp hot or mild chilli flakes or Aleppo pepper flakes
- 750 ml stock vegetable or chicken
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tsp Balsamic vinegar
- 1 pinch sugar optional
To serve (optional)
- chopped parsley
- small cubes of cheese
Instructions
-
Put the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
When hot, add the prepared onion, carrot, celery, and garlic, seasoning with a little salt and pepper.
Sauté, stirring often, until the vegetables are starting to soften and colour (10-12 min).
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Add the chopped peppers, the drained carlin peas and the spices. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
-
Stir in the stock, tomato puree, Balsamic vinegar, plus the sugar if using.
Put on a lid and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer until the vegetables are soft and tender (approx 15 min).
-
Off the heat, use a stick blender to blend the soup for just a few seconds: leaving some texture gives a better result than making it completely smooth.
Check the seasoning then serve, sprinkled with the chopped parsley plus the cheese if using.
Can be stored in the fridge for 3 days or frozen.
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