roasted carrot soup

Great soup! I collected all the odds and ends from the vegetable drawer and put them to simmer in a pot of water with some peppercorns and herbs. Went about my business and returned in two hours to prep the carrots, pre-heat the oven and roast the veg (my only deviation from recipe was to roast the carrots at 450 degrees instead of broiling). In another hour I strained the stock, added the ginger and fresh thyme, and brought it to a boil. I sauteed the onions and garlic, scraped all the carrots in and poured in the broth, and let it simmer. Later I poured it all into the blender and voila! What a knockout soup! Little effort, little active work, and superior result! Imagine if I had vegetable stock on hand!

A simple carrot soup with great flavor depth.

The key to this recipe is the carrot preparation - you roast sliced carrots under your broiler until they are are partially brown/black. This seems to bring out the sweetness of the carrot and impart a bit of smokey goodness.

I also prepared a home-made vegetable stock for this dish, and I puréed it in my blender. I also made it 24 hours before I served it, which seemed to help the flavors to meld.

I found that the soup needed more pepper than called for, but other than that, it was perfect. This soup was served to guests for Christmas eve. It was a nice light vegan course, and I'm so pleased to have ample leftovers.

Am I predictable or what? I looked for an interesting recipe using carrots, made this, with no memory of having made it before. I again discovered the importance of extra pepper! lol