No, it’s not tomato soup. It’s pimento soup. Creamy pimento soup. In her book Pimento Cheese: The Cookbook author Perre Coleman Magness serves up a tribute to the sparkling pimento pepper. Often the pimentos appear in recipes for pimento cheese — as they do in this one for the croutons — but there also recipes where the pimento pepper itself gets to play the leading role. As in this soup.
I love pimentos because, to my mouth, they seem to offer a comfy warmth, not Tex-Mex heat. There’s a distinctive flavor to pimentos, a flavor many of us adore. Combine the pimentos with the richness of half-and-half and all you need is great broth or stock to forge a memorable soup. If you can, use homemade chicken or vegetable broth here. It’s brighter and fresher, just the sidekick for those pimentos.
You can make this soup a day ahead, then reheat just before serving. It has both the deep flavor and the radiant beauty to make a stunning first course for weekend feast.
Creamy Pimento Soup with Grilled Pimento Cheese Croutons
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients:
For the soup:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- Four 7-ounce jars diced pimentos, rinsed and drained
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ cup half-and-half
- Kosher salt
For the croutons:
- 4 slices firm white sandwich bread
- ½ cup prepared pimento cheese
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- Sweet paprika
Preparation:
MAKE THE SOUP: Warm the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the pimentos, sprinkle over the paprika, and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Cover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 20 minutes.
MEANWHILE, MAKE THE CROUTONS: Cut the crusts from the bread, then spread a thin layer of pimento cheese on each of 2 slices, spreading it all the way to the edge. Press the remaining slices of bread on top. Spread a thin gloss of mayonnaise on each side of the outside of both sandwiches. Sprinkle a little paprika on the mayonnaise.
Heat a skillet over medium heat, add the sandwiches and cook until the first side is browned and toasty and the cheese begins to melt. Flip the sandwiches and cook until toasted. Remove the sandwiches from the skillet and let rest for a few minutes, then cut each sandwich into small squares to make croutons. I find a serrated knife and a sawing motion works best to keep the cheese inside the croutons.
Stir the lemon juice into the soup and, using an immersion blender, if you have one, puree the soup. Or cool the soup for about 10 minutes, then puree it in batches in a regular blender until smooth. The soup can be refrigerated, covered, for up to a day before gently reheating.
When ready to serve, reheat the soup over medium heat; do not boil. Stir in the half-and-half and gently heat through. Season to taste with salt. Serve the soup warm with the croutons floating on top.
Source: Pimento Cheese: The Cookbook by Perre Coleman Magness [St. Martin’s Griffin, 2014]
Photograph by Jennifer Davick