Hummus and Red Pepper Soup

I just googled it, and evidently January is National Soup Month. (It’s also National Hot Tea Month, National Oatmeal Month, and National Slow Cooking Month). Who knows if the website I was looking at is legit, but let’s go with it. It’s literally 20 degrees out right now in New York, so four weeks of soup sounds pretty good to me.

The only problem is that most soups require a bit of advance planning. They are the kind of thing you make on Sunday afternoon to have for dinner that week. But what if you didn’t get around to it last weekend, and now it’s a snowy, freezing Wednesday, and you want nothing more than to finish work, change into your sweatpants, and collapse in front of The Great British Bake Off at the table with a steaming, comforting bowl?

Meet my new favorite soup. I made it on Monday night in about 5 minutes, in between giving Owen his bath (he insisted on bringing his dessert into the tub and then cried when his cookies got wet) and putting him to bed. I love this hummus and red pepper soup because it’s the perfect balance of creamy and chunky. There are so many things in it–rice, chickpeas, spinach–that it’s really a one-pot meal. All you need is a hunk of good bread for dunking.

I used homemade hummus in my soup but I think store-bought would work just as well. If you don’t have leftover rice, I wont tell if you use a 90-second or boil-in-bag variety–I do it all the time. The smoked paprika and cumin add a extra layers of flavor, but if you don’t have them on hand it’s fine to leave them out. If you do want to make this ahead, leave out the spinach until you reheat the soup just before serving, that way it stays fresh and green.

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Hummus and Red Pepper Soup

This hearty soup, filled with chickpeas, spinach, and rice, is really a one-bowl meal. It freezes beautifully, so make a double batch and stash extras in the freezer.

Servings 6

Author Turnip the Oven

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups drained chopped roasted red bell peppers
• 1 1/2 cups hummus
• 4 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
• 1 can chickpeas 15-ounce, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup cooked rice white or brown
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika optional
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin optional
• 1 heaping cup chopped baby spinach
• Olive oil for serving
• Hot sauce for serving

Instructions

1. Combine the peppers, hummus, and 2 cups of stock in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Transfer to a large pot and stir in the remaining 2 cup of stock, chickpeas, and rice. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the smoked paprika and cumin if using. Heat over medium-high heat until simmering, about 5 minutes. Stir in the spinach, cover, remove from the heat, and let stand until wilted, about 1 minute. Serve drizzled with olive oil and hot sauce.