Bay Area winter Gazpacho

With roasted red peppers, ripe tomatoes and fresh crab, this chilled soup is full of  flavor. It's the perfect clean appetizer for your next backyard barbeque. With this winter heat and crab season, time to spark up the Barbie.

Ready in 30 minutes • Makes 4 servings

• 1 large orange
• bell pepper
• 3 1/2 pounds yellow and orange tomatoes
• 1 cup sweet onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Pinch sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1 lb lump crab meat or cooked shrimp

1. Roast the bell pepper: position rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat broiler. Place pepper on a baking sheet and broil, turning every 4 to 5 minutes, until the skin is blackened and blistered on all sides. Transfer to a bowl, cover and let steam until the skin is loosened, about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove the skin. Discard stem, seeds and ribs.
2. Peel tomatoes: make a small “X” in the bottom of each tomato and plunge into boiling water until skin is slightly loosened, 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl of ice water for 1 minute. Peel with a paring knife, starting at the X. Core each tomato and divide in half; set aside.
3. Place the roasted pepper and half of the tomatoes in a blender. Add onion and oil and purée until smooth. Transfer to a large metal bowl. Purée remaining tomatoes until smooth and add to bowl; stir to combine. Refrigerate the gazpacho until chilled, at least 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper. Serve topped with crab or shrimp.