Roast Carrot & Fennel Soup
Home cook extraordinaire and co-op vollie, Erin Alison, of @lastwinterhouse shares a warming autumnal soup recipe.
Serves 4
A nourishing and flavoursome soup that will fill your belly on a cold evening.
This soup freezes well so consider making a ‘saviour soup’ by doubling the quantities and freezing half. This recipe requires a stick mixer or blender.
You will need:
Roughly 750-800gms fresh carrots – chopped into roughly 2cm thick chunks
3 tbsp dried fennel seeds
6 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion – diced
3 cloves garlic – crushed
1 inch fresh ginger – peeled and grated
Big pinch of salt and pepper
½ stock cube of your choice
2L water
To serve:
Sour cream
Fresh flat leaf parsley
Crusty bread
Now do this:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees
Spread carrot pieces out on a baking tray, covering with half the olive oil and the fennel seeds. Bake for approximately 20 mins, or until the carrot has softened and has some brown edges.
When the carrots are close to being finished, pour remaining olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat and sauté the onion, garlic and ginger until soft and fragrant.
Add the stock cube, salt and pepper, water and roast carrot pieces (including the fennel seeds) and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for ten minutes, until the liquid has reduced a little.
The carrots should be lovely and soft by this stage and your kitchen smelling delightful!
You now need to blend the soup, either with a stick mixer or by pouring the mixture into a blender. If doing the latter, be sure to allow hot air to escape as you mix.
Serve with a dollop of sour cream and roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
Top tip: Other serving suggestions include a mixture of pine nuts, pepitas and sunflower seeds, all lightly toasted in the oven for a couple of minutes. Substitute sour cream with plain coconut yoghurt for a vegan version.