Cheesy vegetable soup

The cooking time in the recipe header does not include the time required to boil the chicken broth.

Ingredients

• Potatoes (1200 gr.)
• Pumpkin (500 gr.)
• Carrots (450 gr.)
• Bulb onion (500 gr.)
• Garlic (1 small head)
• Bell peppers (6 pcs medium size)
• Processed cheese (good quality, 800 gr.)
• Olive/other vegetable oil (2-3 tablespoons)
• Chicken broth (about 2-2.5 liters)
• Parsley (1 large bunch)
• Dill (1 large bunch)
• Spices:
• Salt (to taste)
• Bay leaf (5 small leaves)
• A mixture of peppers (preferably freshly ground, to taste)
• Coriander (preferably freshly ground, 1 tablespoon without a slide)
• Dried garlic (1 tbsp without a slide)
• Dried thyme (1/2 tbsp.)
• Turmeric (1/2 tbsp.)
• Curry (optional, 1/2 tbsp.)

Directions

1. Let's prepare all the ingredients. Cook the chicken broth in advance or defrost it if using frozen. Of course, you can cook the soup in ordinary water, but I most often cook it with chicken broth, it seems to me that this way the soup turns out tastier and richer.
2. Peel potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic. Cut off a piece of the desired size from the pumpkin. Bulgarian peppers and greens wash and dry.
3. We clean the pumpkin from seeds and peel and cut it and potatoes into large cubes, carrots and onions into thin quarter rings, finely chop the garlic.
4. In a well-heated pan, greased with olive oil, add the onion and simmer it over a slightly above medium heat (on my electric stove 6 out of 9) under the lid until translucent, stirring occasionally so that the onion does not begin to fry.
5. Add carrots to the onion and continue to simmer until soft, stirring occasionally. Carrots have become softer - add garlic and hot pepper (if you still decide to add it), mix and continue to simmer for a minute and a half until a light, pleasant garlic aroma. If necessary, add a little more oil.
6. Add potatoes, pumpkin, spices, pour in the broth (it should completely cover all the vegetables), add salt and bay leaves, mix, bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes and pumpkin are fully cooked.
7. When all the vegetables are soft, add the melted cheese and mix thoroughly until it is completely melted.
8. The cheese has melted - remove the future soup from the heat, remove the bay leaves from it and puree it with an immersion blender until smooth. If necessary, adjust the amount of liquid to the desired consistency.
9. While the potatoes and pumpkin are cooking, peel the bell peppers from seeds, partitions and stalks and cut them into fairly large cubes. Greens finely chop.
10. In a well-heated pan, greased with olive oil, add the bell pepper and simmer it over a slightly above medium heat (on my electric stove 6 out of 9) under the lid until softened slightly, stirring occasionally.
11. For this recipe, it is better to take peppers of bright, rich and contrasting colors with the soup. For example, red, deep orange, dark green.
12. We return the pot with soup to medium heat (on my electric stove 5 out of 9), bring to a light boil (it should only gurgle a little), add bell pepper, mix and cook for 5 minutes all together.
13. Add chopped greens, mix and immediately remove from heat. Let it brew under the lid for 10-15 minutes and you can serve.
14. Cheesy vegetable puree soup, thick, fragrant, creamy cheese - why not a wonderful lunch? If desired, you can serve it with crackers, but without them, this soup is very, very tasty.
15. Bon appetit!