The Recipe Room

When out of the UK for a few years, I was missing those wonderful Covent Garden soups, especially my favourite – carrot and coriander.  So after a fruitless search to uncover them on the supermarket shelves, I decided to get making my own version which I call comforting carrot, coriander and cumin soup, and I’m so glad I did.  I like the alliteration, but the flavour’s even better, because nothing beats fresh home-made soup!  Carrots are a delicious root vegetable packed with carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A.

I’ve given this traditional recipe a little extra kick with the addition of cumin.  I like to make mine pretty intense for extra comfort, but you can vary the amount to your own taste.  I’ve kept the cumin content moderate in this recipe for you, so add or take away as you wish.

What you need:

• 500g fresh carrots, washed and sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.2 litres of vegetable stock
• 1 large bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped and some kept aside for the garnish
• 1tsp ground cumin
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

What you do:

1. Add the oil to a large pan and soften the onions and carrots together for a few minutes.
2. Sprinkle in the ground cumin, salt, and ground pepper.  Stir and cook for another couple of minutes.
3. Pour in the vegetable stock and bring the liquid to the boil.  Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are cooked.
4. Add most of the coriander and blend the ingredients into a soup to the texture of your choice. I like mine a little rough, but it’s just as yummy smooth.
5. Serve in pretty bowls topped with a coriander garnish.

20 minutes to prepare – 20-30 minutes to cook

Makes 4 servings

Note: In general, carrot and coriander make for a great combination in soups. If you want to add a bit more protein, try this bacon, carrot, butter bean and coriander soup. It’s a bit heartier, so keep it in mind if you are quite hungry.

Tags: Carrot and Coriander soup, carrots, coriander, cumin, olive oil, onions, seasonal, vegetable stock

This entry was posted on Thursday, 31 May, 2012 at 12:05 pm by Toni Simpson and is filed under Less than 1 hour, Main Courses, Meal for 4 people, Starters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the feed RSS 2.0. You can leave a comment, or make a trackback from your own blog.