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Creamy Corn Soup with Roasted Red Peppers

Serves 6.

Ingredients

 

For red-pepper sauce
  • 2 red bell peppers (1 lb total)
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
For soup
  • 4 ears of corn
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 5 cups water
  • 1/4 cup rolled oats
  • Garnish: chopped flat-leaf parsley or cilantro
    2 teaspoons fine sea salt

Preparation

Roast peppers for sauce:
Roast peppers on racks of gas burners on high, turning with tongs, until skins are blackened all over, 10 to 12 minutes. (Or broil peppers on rack of a broiler pan 5 inches from heat, turning occasionally, about 15 minutes.) Transfer to a bowl and cool, covered, 10 minutes.
Once cooled, peel peppers (do not rinse), then halve lengthwise, discarding stems and seeds. Purée peppers in a blender with oil, lemon juice, hot sauce, sea salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until very smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Season with hot sauce and salt, then transfer to a bowl.
 
Make soup while peppers roast and cool:
Cut kernels off cobs, then scrape cobs with knife to extract “milk.” Cook onion in oil in a heavy medium pot over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 5 minutes. Add corn with its “milk,” water, oats, and sea salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.
Purée soup in 2 to 3 batches in cleaned blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), then strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl if desired. Reheat soup if necessary, then season with salt.
Serve soup drizzled with some red-pepper sauce and serve remaining sauce on the side or reserve for another use.