Recipe: Cream of Corn Soup

Serves 4.

Note: The soup and the red pepper sauce can be refrigerated, separately, for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat the soup before serving. Adapted from Nina Planck's "The Real Food Cookbook."

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter or olive oil

• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and sliced

• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

• 3 ears fresh corn, husks and silks removed

• 1 c. whole milk (may substitute low- or nonfat), plus more as needed

• 1/4 tsp. sea salt, plus more to taste

• Pinch ground cayenne pepper, plus more to taste

Directions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the red bell pepper and stir to coat. Cover and cook until it is very soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, leaving as much butter in the pot as possible; transfer to a food processor. Purée until smooth.

Add the onion to the pot and stir to coat; cook over medium heat until very soft, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Discard the cob pieces. Add the salt and cayenne pepper, if using. Taste, and add more of each if desired.

Working in batches, transfer the mixture to a blender; remove the center knob in the lid so steam can escape. Hold a towel over the opening; purée until smooth. If the soup is too thick, add milk as needed. (Alternatively, you can blend the soup in a food processor or with an immersion blender, but you may want to then push it through a fine-mesh strainer if the texture of the corn kernel skins is bothersome.)

Divide the soup among bowls. Top each portion with a dollop of the red pepper sauce.

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories160Fat9 gSodium170 mg