Spiced carrot soup

I really have to be in the mood for soup, it’s not something that I cook often but this quick and simple soup definitely hits the spot when I need a little chilli kick. I often use a lot of spices in my food so always have a good stock of fresh and dried, which comes in handy when I have leftover carrots from my veg bag (I get my veg bag from the brilliant http://www.windmillorganic.co.uk/ ). So if you need a simple lunch and have nothing in the fridge the follow my simple recipe and enjoy.

Ingredients

1tbs Olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 whole red chilli, finely diced (If you don’t like your food too hot then take out seeds)

1lb carrots, roughly chopped

1tsp ground cumin

1tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground cinnamon

2.5 pints of vegetable stock

Small bunch of fresh coriander

Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Using a medium sized saucepan, fry the onions and carrots in the oil until onions start to soften
2. Add in ground spices, chilli and garlic and stir
3. Add in the vegetable stock and half of the fresh coriander, once the water is brought to boil simmer for around 20 minutes until carrots are tender
4. Carefully blend the soup either in a blender or with hand blender, be careful as the soup will be very hot so I always prefer to use a blender and do it in two batches
5. Return to pan and add in remaining fresh coriander, season and bring to desired heat.

I don’t like my soup too thick so, if you do prefer your soup thicker, you may want to reduce to just 2 pints of vegetable stock. This soup can be served with any type of bread really but I have just tried Dan Leopards’ Walnut bread, from his book ‘short and sweet’. Buy Dan’s book or visit his website http://www.danlepard.com/ for some delicious recipes and great easy to follow methods to give you great tasting bread.