Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Roasted Carrot Soup

Look at what I got in my last Boston Organics delivery!

PA113143
 
Aren't they cute?  I don't even like carrots, and I can't get over how pretty these were.  I knew I definitely wanted to roast them because I've always loved how the carrots look in this post on high-heat roasted vegetables from The Kitchn.  But I didn't really want to eat them after because, again, I don't like carrots.

Then I found this recipe for roasted carrot soup on Food52 which uses fresh thyme, which I was still trying to use up after the Caramelized Onion and Swiss Chard Quiche and Garlic Thyme Popcorn, and everything magically fell into place.  ^_^

Roasted Carrot Soup

Roasted Carrot Soup (adapted from Food52)
makes 4 servings

1 1/4 lbs. carrots (about 9 small carrots)
1/4 cup olive oil
Kosher salt
4 cups vegetable stock (good quality, not too high in sodium)
1 piece ginger, an inch long, peeled
1 sprig thyme, plus more for garnish
1 small sweet onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
Freshly ground black pepper
Popcorn (optional)

PA113152
 
Peel the carrots, and halve or quarter the larger carrots lengthwise so that they are all about 1/2-inch thick.

PA113153
 
On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the carrots with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt.

PA113160
 
Set an oven rack 6 to 8 inches from the heat source and turn on the broiler. Broil the carrots until they brown and soften, turning them over with tongs every 5 minutes or so; this should take 15 to 20 minutes.  Once the carrots have cooled, chop them up into bite-sized pieces.

PA113155

Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil, add the ginger and the sprig of thyme and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

PA113157
 
Put the onion in a medium stock pot with the remaining olive oil. Brown the onion over medium heat, stirring frequently.

PA113163
 
Add the garlic and then add the carrots to the onions once they have browned.

PA113166
 
Remove the ginger and thyme from the stock and add the stock to the pot with the onions and carrots. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until the carrots are soft enough to puree.

Use an immersion or a standard blender to puree the mixture until smooth. If the soup seems too thick, add more stock or water and reheat gently. Add salt and pepper to taste. To serve, garnish with fresh thyme and a few pieces of popcorn.

Roasted Carrot Soup
 
The final verdict:  I liked how creamy the soup was even without any added cream.  But it still tasted like carrots.  =/  If you like carrots, you'll like this soup.  In the meantime, I think I'll stick to making Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting, Carrot Cake Ice Cream, or Curried Carrot Soup the next time I get carrots.  Or maybe I should just put carrots on my no-list again.

1 comment:

  1. I made the exact same recipe on Monday with a bag of neglected carrots at my friend's place. I liked it so much that I used it as a topping for my persimmon pancakes. It was a really monochromatic meal. I'm curious about the curried carrot soup now

    ReplyDelete