Romesco Soup

I was lying in the garden with the sun on my face thinking about what to make for lunch and thinking how fond I am of rosmesco sauce. I have almonds and peppers so along with some staples I decided a soup inspired by romesco sauce was possible, here is the result. Veronica turned up just in time to enjoy it with me.
For this soup you will need,
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
2 sticks of celery chopped
1 leek, chopped
2 shallots or 1 small onion, yes chopped
6 cloves of garlic. . . . . .sliced!
100g of flaked almonds
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of dry sherry
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon of coarsely ground black pepper
2 litres of vegetable stock
as few strands of saffron.

Begin by cooking the garlic and almonds in olive oil over a low heat until they begin to turn a pale brown. Be careful at this stage not to burn them, using flaked almonds allows you to see the garlic and almonds turn from their creamy colour first to a soft beige and then a slightly deeper colour. As soon as you have a pale brown, add the remaining vegetables and continue to sweat the vegetables on a low heat, stirring from time to time for a few minutes until they have become translucent, no more than 5 minutes. Add the tomato puree and cook for a further minute before adding the sherry, saffron and spices, then finally the stock. Bring it all up to a simmer and cook for around 15 minutes. Blend in batches being careful not to overfill the blender jug, for a good two minutes each batch, strain and serve after adjusting the seasoning, reheating if necessary. This soup does produce a residue in the sieve but my chickens loved it so no loss.

Notes:
Light and delicious with a fragrant spice kick, a good soup to play around with, adding fresh chilli would be good. I served this with some ground elder pesto focaccia.