Raw Red Pepper-Pistachio Bisque

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A creamy, refreshing, paprika laced red bell pepper bisque topped with a delicious vibrant green pistachio parsley pistou (pine-nut-less pesto) which gives the smoothness of the soup a nice amount of nutty texture. Enjoy as the centerpiece of your meal or as an appetizer for lunch or dinner
Yield: 12 truffles

Ingredients
For the bisque:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 cup filtered water
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 shallot, peeled and chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
• 1 serrano pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped (optional)
• 2 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika
• 1 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• ¼ cup raw pistachios, soaked
• ¼ cup raw cashews, soaked
• 1 small or ½ large ripe avocado, pitted and peeled

For the pistou:

• ½ cup packed fresh flat-leaf parsley
• ¼ cup dry raw pistachios
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/8 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
• 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

Instruction

1) combine the parsley, pistachios, nutritional yeast, and sea salt in the bowl of a food processor. (A mini one works best here). Pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the olive oil, and process until the mixture is finely chopped. Set aside.

Bisque:

1) combine all ingredients except avocado in a high-speed blender.

2) Blend to combine, add the avocado, and blend again until very smooth.

You can either serve the bisque room-temperature, or chill it for a few hours before serving, or even gently warm it on the stove over low heat or in a dehydrator.

Finishing touch:

Top each serving of soup with ¼ of the reserved pistou. I also added some freshly ground black pepper.

SUBSTITUTION OPTIONS:

— Coconut milk, soymilk, or another unsweetened nondairy milk in place of almond milk

— Vegetable broth in place of filtered water (if using broth, decrease sea salt to ½ tsp)

— ¼ cup chopped red onion in place of shallot

— Yellow or orange bell peppers in place of red

— Any small, hot pepper in place of serrano

— Additional cashews in place of pistachios (in the bisque)

— Walnuts or almonds in place of pistachios (in the pistou)

— Fresh cilantro in place of flat-leaf parsley