velvet carrot soup

The lovely flatmate and I often end up leaving each other notes in lieu of actual facetime. More often than not, I get a pointed do the washing up, please. I normally leave, I LOVE YOU (I took your shoes) or on a good day cake! eat delicious cake in fridge!

Sunday evening though, I cancelled my plans for a long bath and a pair of striped possum socks. When I surfaced, rumpled and steam-damp, the flatmate was waiting, with carrot soup firmly in mind.

Velvety, it has to be velvety.

She chopped and I googled (fair division of labour, no?) finding a suitable version from Joy the Baker. We streamlined it to the contents of our fridge and a Sunday craving for simplicity. No ginger, no fashionable cumin. Just a hint of lemon zest, with coconut milk in the background, serving to spotlight the overwhelming sweet smooth carrot.

It doesn’t seem like a remarkable recipe in fact: but the velvet texture comes from a limited amount of liquid, creating a thick orange lava. This is no watery make-do soup. It’s more like a carrot puree, filling and indulgent (like pudding! but made of carrots!) but still good for your insides.

So good I made it again three days later, and got another note in reply:

Gnammy! Buonissima!      (official Italian stamp of approval)

Velvet carrot soup

(simplified from Joy the Baker, serves two or three)

dash of olive oil

750g carrots, diced

600ml vegetable stock

zest of half a lemon

coriander leaves

two shallots

65g coconut milk

salt, pepper

Roughly chop shallots and fry in a splash of olive oil, large saucepan. When soft, add the diced carrots and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes. (Let them get some colour without going black around the edges.) Add the vegetable stock, bring to a simmer and cover. Let simmer for 20 minutes or so, until the carrots are soft but not mush.

Take off heat, add lemon zest and coconut milk and blend to a smooth smooth velvet puree. (Take care when blending hot soups, they can explode and cover you in painful orange liquid.) Add more stock if you like – I prefer it thick. Salt and pepper – you can add a little chili oil for punch, or lemon if you like it bitter-sweet, but try it plain first.