Spicy Tomato and Red Pepper Soup

As you know I love nifty kitchenware. I'm often found in the kitchen department of random shops just looking to see what I might be missing out on. Luckily, other people know I'm a sucker for this stuff and I sometimes get things as presents.

It was my birthday last week and I received these funky soup mugs from my brother as a gift. I'd seen them around Christmas time and had pined over them for a while. He'd tried to get some then but they were soon sold out. However, the boy triumphed and I now have 2 of the little beasts in my collection. I am happy.

So, I've had soup on the brain for a week or so even though the weather is toasty. So I wondered what kind of flavours would make a tasty soup for this summery weather. I ended up choosing tomato and red pepper. The flavours are sweet and bright and I added some chili to give it a warm heat to perk it up a little. This was a real throw together dish with ingredients I had kicking about but it was delicious!

Ingredients
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp oil
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 roasted red pepper (from a jar - you can easily make your own!)
1 tin tomatoes
1/2 pint chicken or vegetable stock (fresh or from a cube)
Pinch of dried mixed herbs
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3/4 tsp Peri Peri spice
A few dashes of Smoked Tabasco
1 bay leaf (2 if they're small)

Method
Gently fry the onion, garlic and peppers in the oil until softened but not browned.
Add the tin of tomatoes and the hot stock and bring to a boil.
Add the herbs, spices, Tabasco and bay leaf. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes.
Blend the soup with a stick blender or liquidiser until it reaches the desired consistency (add more water if it's too thick).
Serve with crusty bread.