Roasted Carrot Soup

Carrots are so much more flavourful when roasted, I am surprised that it’s not more common to roast them.  Roasting carrots allows the carrots to caramelise in their natural delicious sweetness.  My favourite way to roast carrots is “en papillote” (in a parcel of baking paper) with a little butter, white wine, ground cumin and thyme.  I usually serve carrots this way as a side dish, but I decided to try this method to make a roasted carrot soup.

All the vegetables for this soup are roasted, and then combined with vegetable stock and blended, so this roasted carrot soup couldn’t be easier to make.  To finish the soup serve with some freshly chopped coriander (cilantro) or a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream or perhaps a dash of freshly grated ginger to give it some zing.  You may also like to serve the soup with these Polenta Madeleine’s which is a great alternative to serving bread with soup.  Either way this roasted carrot soup is a deliciously healthy soup, perfect for those cold rainy days or winter nights.

Roasted Carrot Soup

Ingredients:

• 800g of carrots, peeled and quartered
• 1 large onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons of white wine
• 1200mls of vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons of cream
• salt and pepper

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (35 Fahrenheit)
2. Place the carrots, onion, garlic, thyme, olive oil, butter and ground cumin in the middle of a sheet of parchment paper or foil.  Wrap up, leaving a small opening at the top and add the white wine and seal to close. Roast until the carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. In a large saucepan add the vegetable stock and roasted vegetables and use a hand held stick blender to process until smooth.  Add the cream and season to taste and bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes, until the soup thickens slightly.
4. Serve with a dollop of sour cream, creme fraiche, freshly chopped coriander (cilantro) or a little freshly grated ginger.