Carrot And Coriander Soup

I developed this recipe when our veg supplier had a glut of carrots and was selling them at a fantastic rate. You can get a kilo of carrots for around 60p all year round so this is a great recipe to do meals on the cheap.

The cardamom, cumin and ginger is a personal touch but if you can leave them out if you prefer.

Ingredients

1.6kg Carrots

3 Large onions

30g Bunch of Coriander

2L Chicken/Vegetable stock

10 Cardamom pods

1/2tsp Ground ginger

1/2tsp Ground cumin

Olive oil

Salt & Pepper

Method

Take the tops off and peel the carrots, peel and roughly chop the onions. Put a large saucepan/stockpot on a high heat with about 3tbsp of olive oil. When the oil is hot add the cardamom pods and heat until the pods have sightly browned. 

Take the pods out of the oil and discard and turn the hob down to a low heat, giving the oil a few minutes to cool down as well. Put the onions into the pan and sweat off with the lid on until translucent- make sure you don't brown the onions.

Add the ginger and cumin and a little salt & pepper and cook for a couple of minutes to let the onions absorb the flavour. Add in the carrots and the stock, increase the heat and bring to the boil.

Reduce to a medium heat and simmer unit the carrots are soft and then blitz with a stick blender or in a food processor. Return to a low heat. 

Strip the leaves off the coriander stalks and roughly chop. Add to the soup and let simmer for 10 minutes. Serve (swirl of cream optional!)