Roasted carrot & ginger soup

Carrots and coconuts pair perfectly with a subtle kick of ginger to make this a perfect meal on a cold winter day! It’s sweet and spicy, creamy and comforting and everything you want a soup to be.The gorgeous colour is just an added bonus when you have fresh organic produce that does all the work for you. Let’s just say it’s a cheat’s way of skipping all the planning ahead when making a Thai curry by making a quick and easy soup instead!

PREPARATION TIME: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS

• 10 medium-sized carrots, peeled
• 2 large red onions
• 1″ piece of fresh ginger
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 600 ml vegetable stock
• 1/2 teaspoon dried red chilli flakes
• Few sprigs of fresh thyme
• Olive oil
• Sea salt, to taste

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 220°C.

Start by roughly chopping the carrots and onions, lengthwise, into halves or quarters depending on the size. Cut the ginger root into small chunks.

Note: You could always adjust the amount of ginger as per your preference!

Toss all of them onto a baking tray, drizzle generously with olive oil and add a few thyme leaves. Give them a thorough rub to coat the vegetables evenly.

Place in the oven for about 30-40 minutes.

At the point, you could thinly slice some of the ginger root and flash fry them in hot oil to use as a topping later.

Once out the oven, transfer all the roasted vegetables into a blender. Season with sea salt, add the dried chilli flakes and coconut milk.

Blitz for a few minutes and slowly start to ladle in some of the vegetable stock to loosen up the purée.Once you achieve a smooth consistency, transfer the purée into a pot, add the remaining stock and bring to a simmer.

Adjust the seasoning if required.

Note: You could alternatively use a stick blender to purée the soup and simplify the process altogether!

Serve warm and top with thyme sprigs, crispy ginger and a dash of cayenne pepper.

PRESSURE POINTS

This recipe is fairly simple, only fair warning if you’re using a blender avoid adding too much liquid while blitzing it, things could get messy!

If you give this recipe a go, I’d love to see how it turned out. Leave a comment below and share your pictures on Instagram using the tag #thecookbooklife!

Stay healthy!

Nikita xx