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Carrot-Orange Soup With A Toasted Cashew Garnish

This is essentially a puree of carrots and sauteed onions enriched with cream, brightened with a tad of tomato paste, and, of course, sparked with orange zest. Toasted cashews add crunch and contrast. The carrots called for here are peeled; this adds to the smoothness of the finished puree. Pureed rice provides a slight thickening, an easy (and calorie-light) trick.

Courses: Soup
Serves: 4 people

Recipe Ingredients

2 tablespoons 30mlButter
1 tablespoon 15mlOnion - chopped (large)
4 cups 948mlChicken stock - to 5 cups
  (or any well-flavored vegetable stock)
1 tablespoon 15mlHoney - or more to taste
1 1/2 lbs 681g / 24ozSweet, thin carrots - peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons 30mlTomato paste
2 tablespoons 30mlLong-grain rice
  Grated zest of 1 orange
1 cup 237mlFresh orange juice
1/2 cup 118mlHeavy (whipping) cream or Creme Fraiche
  (or evaporated skim milk) - see * Note
  Salt - to taste
  Black pepper, freshly ground - to taste
  Optional
1/8 teaspoon 0.6mlFreshly grated nutmeg - or so, to taste
1 tablespoon 15mlBrandy
  Garnish
1/4 cup 36g / 1.3ozFreshly toasted cashews - coarsely chopped

Recipe Instructions

* Note: The puree is rich enough in texture so that you could get away with using evaporated milk here.

In a 10-inch skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until it starts to soften, about 3 minutes. Transfer the saute to a soup pot with 4 cups of the stock, the honey, carrots, tomato paste, and rice. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium-low and let simmer, covered, for 30 minutes or until the rice is quite soft.

Transfer the soup to a food processor and puree with the orange zest and juice, cream, and salt and pepper. Taste. If the carrots are flavorful enough, you won't need anything else, but if it's not quite there, add the nutmeg (to taste) and the brandy. For extra smoothness, you may strain the soup after pureeing.

Return the soup to the pot and reheat, watching closely to prevent burning. Taste. If it's too thick for your liking, thin it with additional stock. Serve very hot in cups, garnished with a sprinkle of the toasted cashews. This recipe serves 4 to 6.

Source:
DAIRY HOLLOW HOUSE SOUP & BREAD by Crescent Dragonwagon (c) 1992 - Workman Publishing, New York - 406 pages - $12.95 - As reprinted in the Mar/Apr, 1993 issue of Cookbook Digest

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