Carrot & Coriander Soup

Hello!  Happy Tuesday!  Would you like to read a post about soup?  I thought you would.

I like soup.  I really like it, in fact - I would probably be a member of its fan club, if such a wonderful establishment existed.  I happen to be quite particular about what kind of soup I like, however.  Mulligatawny?  Strange name and too many ingredients lurking in the bottom of the bowl to catch in my teeth - urk.  Leek and potato?  Always too pale.  Carrot and coriander?  Too bland.

But then we had a glut of carrots in our veg box, and I wanted to push myself beyond the reliable carrot and ginger soup that I always make.  So, somewhat reluctantly, I decided to give carrot and coriander a whirl.

Carrot & Coriander Soup

You need (serves 4)

1 leek

1 lb carrots, scrubbed and chopped

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp coriander seeds

Olive oil

1 1/2 pints water

Bunch fresh coriander

Salt & pepper

Firstly, finely slice the leek and arrange the pieces in a roasting tin.  Add the chopped carrots, spices, and a good drizzling of olive oil.  Roast in a low oven for about an hour, until the carrots are soft to the touch.

Tip everything in the pan into a blender.  Add water (not stock - this is a Delia Smith recommendation, and it's a good one.  You don't want much to distract from the sweetness of the carrots).  Add the fresh coriander, and salt and pepper generously.  You can afford to be liberal with the salt here, because you need to balance out the sugar from the carrots. 

Blend until smooth. 

If the resulting mixture looks too thick, feel free to add more water, or some cream if you prefer a more luxurious soup.  For the record, we didn't use any cream, and the soup was perfect - fresh-tasting, with the three different kinds of coriander giving layers of spice which play against the earthy sweetness of the carrots.

We served the soup with a homemade batch of walnut, apricot, and rosemary bread (recipe from this lovely book).   It didn't turn out as fancy as it sounds, but since it soaked up the soup beautifully, who really cares?