This meatless soup, made with fresh or frozen corn, is a perfect warm up for a cold day. When I visited the local farmer over the summer, he gave me quite a few ears of fresh sweet corn. I blanched quite a bit of it and froze it, some in earns and others I cut off the ears for bagged corn. One of the batches had rather small kernels, so they were perfect for this soup!

I stuck pretty close to the recipe on this, my only changes were that I used my homemade chicken broth, a handful of roasted red bell pepper from a jar, and whole milk instead of whipping cream. Even the finicky husband enjoyed this one.

Corn and Red Pepper Chowder
adapted from Epicurious

4 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (thawed if frozen), divided
2 cups low-salt chicken broth, divided
3 tablespoons butter
1 red bell pepper, chopped or 1/2 cup roasted red bell pepper, chopped
1 (5- to 6-ounce) Yukon Gold potato, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 large shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons whipping cream or whole milk
Chopped green onions (garnish, optional)

Blend 2 cups corn and 1 cup broth in blender until almost smooth. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add next 3 ingredients; sauté 5 minutes. Add 2 cups corn, 1 cup broth, and puree from blender. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Mix in cream. Season chowder with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with onions.

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