The Whole Carrot Soup
The Whole Carrot Soup
I always thought it a shame that the delicate, lacy leaves of our homegrown carrots had to be consigned to the compost pile. I was therefore intrigued to discover a recipe which promised that “the tender tops that come with your carrots are delicious in soups.” It was my turn to make dinner, so I went out to the carrot patch and soon came back with an armful of bright green and orange splendor. It was time to experiment!
(Incidentally, when you plan to store fresh carrots, remove the leaves so that they do not continue to draw nourishment out of the root.)
carrot top soup
1 bunch (6 small to medium) carrots, the tops and the roots
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
3 tablespoons of rice
2 large leeks, white parts only
2 sage or lemon thyme sprigs
2 tablespoons chopped dill, parsley, celery leaves, or lovage
sea salt and finely ground pepper
6 cups of vegetable stock, light chicken stock, or water
Pull or pluck the lacy leaves of the carrot greens off their stems. You should have between 2 and three cups, loosely packed. Wash, then chop finely. (I used a food processor.) Grate the carrots or, if you want a more refined-looking soup, finely chopped them. (Again, the trusty food processor came in handy!)
Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the carrot tops and carrots, rice, leeks, thyme, and dill. Cook for several minutes, turning everything a few times, then season with 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt and add the stock. Bring to a boil and simmer until the rice is cooked, 16 to 18 minutes.
Taste for salt, season with pepper, and serve.
My Variations (shown in the photograph): (Please Note: I doubled this recipe.) I used 6 tablespoons of bulgur instead of rice, omitted the leeks, used a teaspoon of dried ground sage, used 3 tablespoons of dried dill, and used 8 cups of chicken stock supplemented by 4 cups of water. Later, I added two cups of brown rice and 4 extra cups of filtered water. After boiling the soup for several minutes, (it smelled delicious) I lowered the temperature to just below a simmer, covered the pot and let the soup cook for more than an hour. This made for a heartier soup and we were able to serve it for dinner with garlic bread and a salad.
Oh, by the by... look at what we found in our carrot patch!
Photographs: Various. © Handmaidens of the Shepherd, April 2009.
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HILDEGARD said...
How could you bear to part such bosom friends? :-) It’s always fun to see what the carrots do under the ground while they grow. Some are really quite creative.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 04:09 PM
HANDMAIDEN said...
I scolded myself for it, but I actually did feel sentimental when one of my brothers finally pulled them apart! ;-)
Monday, May 4, 2009 04:20 PM
Tuesday, April 21, 2009