 In the fall roasted vegetables are nearly always on the dinnertime menu. This recipe feels fancy but isn’t at all. By including a panoply of colors and some more unusual additions like chickpeas and fruit we elevate this classic standby. In this recipe I add some arugula to enliven the hearty, earthy root vegetables and legumes. I love the peppery flavor these greens bring to the table.
Usually hash’s are made on the stove but I find that to be a tedious use of time and lackluster results: overly mushy is some parts and not cooked enough in others. By roasting you ensure that each vegetable gets the same amount of heat. It feels fairer, right?
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 I like to make this soup in late summer when pepper season has just begun to crest and you know that autumn is right around the corner. There is a certain smell in the air and the way the sunlight falls causes the middle part of the day to appear fuller and richer. I think that I make this golden broth to imitate the Northern Californian sun dappled afternoons.
This is a simple but decadent soup that allows the key flavors of roasted pepper and saffron to shine. There aren’t many moving pieces to it and I find that it can be easily assembled while you are chatting distractedly or attending to a more complicated dish. Serve with a crust piece of sourdough and a simple green salad to round out your repast.  Calabrian chile paste has become one of the ingredients du jour at pizzerias where pizza is taken very seriously. Hailing from the Calabria region of Italy, this pepper adds a surprising amount of heat to dishes so take note if you are not wildly fond of spicy meals. There is both a sweet and a spicy version of Calabrian pepper, which I learned the hard way. Let’s just say that not paying attention to what I was grabbing out of the pantry led to a soup that was deemed too spicy by someone who won’t travel without hot sauce or red pepper flakes in her bag.
Cooking the chickpeas with a chile de arbol infuses a subtle heat into the beans, which is lovely but the dish will still work without it. By roasting the vegetables we develop the natural sweetness in the fennel and the onion while increasing the umami flavor in the mushrooms. Both of these tastes provide a wonderful base for the Calabrian chile to really shine.  This dish was inspired by a recipe in the incomparable “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi. His version is just tofu and included copious amounts of butter and deep-frying. I decided to make it less labor intensive and a bit healthier by baking instead of frying and using a food processor to reduce the time mincing.
 Tempeh doesn’t get a whole lot of love outside of Indonesia. This is such a shame because it is such a versatile, protein packed ingredient. A block of tempeh consists of soybeans that have been fermented with a fungus called rhizopus oligosporus. As the fungus grows its mycelium knits the beans together into a cake. This results in a higher protein and fiber content as well as an earthy flavor.
The most important part of this recipe is sourcing the tempeh. Use a low quality block and your dish will suffer. The most readily available brand I like is Tofurky’s Indonesian Style Tempeh. It has converted many a tempeh hater to reason. |
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