This hot and healthy vegetable soup will warm hearts this winter.
By Taryne Jakobi
Photograph by Vanessa Lewis
Spiced carrot soup with lemon grass and coriander pesto crème
Ingredients
- 30ml (2 tbsp) vegetable oil
- 160g onions, diced
- 160g leeks, white part only, chopped
- 1kg carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
- ½ butternut, peeled and diced
- 160g celery, coarsely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves
- 5ml (1 tsp) curry powder
- pinch ground cinnamon
- 50g fresh ginger, chopped
- 1,5 litres chicken stock
- 1 stalk lemon grass
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- juice of ½ lemon
- 125ml (½ cup) crème fraîche
- 15ml (1 tbsp) fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
CORIANDER PESTO CRÈME
- 2,5ml (½ tsp) chilli flakes
- 5ml (1 tsp) soy sauce
- 50ml fresh coriander leaves on stalks
- pinch of chilli flakes
- 15ml (1 tbsp) coconut, freshly grated
- 15ml (1 tbsp) sesame oil
- 15ml (1 tbsp) pine nuts
- lemon juice, Maldon salt and pepper, to season
- sunflower oil
Instructions
Heat the oil in a medium pot and sauté the onion, leeks, carrots, butternut and celery until translucent. Add the garlic, curry powder, cinnamon and ginger and sauté for a few more minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the lemon grass and season. Simmer until the vegetables are tender.
Remove the soup from the heat and transfer it to a food processor. Blend until smooth. Strain through a large sieve if necessary.
Add the lemon juice and adjust the seasoning. Keep warm until serving.
To make the pesto, purée all the ingredients together, adding a little sunflower oil if the pesto is too thick.
Mix the crème fraîche with the parsley and season. Pour the soup into individual bowls, add a dollop of the crème fraîche mixture in the centre and drizzle with the pesto.
Imka Webb is a freelance digital marketing expert and the digital editor of Food & Home Entertaining magazine. www.imkawebb.com
