Carrot and Orange Soup

This is from "Insatiable, Recipes by Peta Mathias"

Golden Soup

This soup gets its golden colour from oranges and carrots. The heart of every good sauce and soup is the caramelisation of carrots, celery and onions. So you firstly saute a small amount of these three to provide the solid basis upon which the orange and carrot will rest. Other wise you may as well just heat a bottle of orange juice and carrot juice together and enjoy the superficial results.

Serves 6

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp butter
1 small carrot, peeled and diced
1 small onion, peeled and diced
1/2 stalk celery, washed and diced
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
sprig of mint
bouquet garni in a muslin bag (parsley, bay leaf and thyme tied together)
strip of orange peel
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
500 gr (1.1 pounds) carrots, peeled and finely sliced
1 litre (4 cups) chicken or vegetable stock or water
cream for garnish (optional)
chopped mint for garnish

1 In a large pot heat oil and butter and saute diced vegetables till golden and caramelised.

2 Add orange juice, scraping up bits of vegetable stuck to bottom of pot.

3 Add all other ingrdients except cream and garnish. Bring to boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook covered until carrots are tender.

4 Allow to cool, remove mint, bouquet garni and orange peel and blend till perfectly smooth and velvety. Season to taste.

Serve in deep bowls with a swirl of cream and a cloud of mint.


Mickle comments:

Please don't try to hurry step 1, it is essential for a full flavour. And don't be too tough on yourself over quantities - when I made it for Christmas I had just one orange so I used all of the zest and left the zest in when it was blended.

This is delicious hot or chilled so dear friends freezing in the Northern hemisphere and being fried in Australia can all enjoy the soup right now. And, if like me you don't like the taste of cooked carrots, still go ahead and make this because it doesn't taste cooked carroty all. This soup freezes well too.

Cook and Enjoy