I overspent on carrots last week so I had this big bunch sitting in my fridge's vegetable box waiting to be used. I've never done a carrot soup before so I guess that was the natural direction it was taking. Luckily, there was this reader recipe in the current edition of the BBC Good Food magazine (is it obvious I like that magazine?!) that was precisely what I was looking for. Jenny Martin was gracious enough to share her recipe to all readers and here I am tweaking it a little bit here and there according to my taste. For one thing, I found the pureed carrots on the sweet side. Well, unless I wanted a dessert, a few twist of the salt mill did the job of making it more savoury.
Carrot Soup
1 medium red onion - chopped
1 tsp minced garlic cloves
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small sprig of fresh thyme or rosemary - use the leaves only
6 large carrots (about 800 g) - peeled and chopped
1 Tbsp sherry or rice wine (optional)
725 ml [2 1/2 cups] stock
fresh chives - snipped (optional)
cheese - grated or crumbled (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
- Gently cook the onion, garlic, and thyme in oil in a pot until the onion is soft and translucent (around 10 minutes). Stir occasionally.
- Add the carrots, cook for about 3 minutes.
- Increase heat and add the wine (if using). Let simmer until almost all of the wine has evaporated.
- Pour in the stock and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer until carrots are soft - about 30-40 minutes. Add more water or stock if it's becoming too dry.
- Using a blender, food processor or hand-held blender, whizz the soup until completely smooth.
- Return to the pot and heat through. Taste and season with salt and/or pepper.
- Serve in bowls with grated cheese and sprinkled chives on top.
