Carrot Soup

 

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

1. Gently cook the onion, garlic, and thyme in oil in a pot until the onion is soft and translucent (around 10 minutes). Stir occasionally.
2. Add the carrots, cook for about 3 minutes.
3. Increase heat and add the wine (if using). Let simmer until almost all of the wine has evaporated.
4. 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.
5. Using a blender, food processor or hand-held blender, whizz the soup until completely smooth.
6. Return to the pot and heat through. Taste and season with salt and/or pepper.
7. Serve in bowls with grated cheese and sprinkled chives on top.