Vegetarian Carrot Soup

This is a really simple recipe that I often make on busy weekdays or for a quick lunch. Not only is it easy to make, but it consists of ingredients that I almost always have in my fridge and pantry:

Vegetarian Carrot Soup

1 big carrot or half a bunch of smaller carrots
3 sticks of celery
125 gr courgette, no skin and cut into cubes
1 onion, finely chopped
125 gr mushrooms, quartered
1 small can of tomato pure
2 stock cubes, vegetarian, so I used herb stock cubes
800 ml hot water
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
a pinch of dried and crushed red chilli pepper (optional)
pepper

I always make sure all my vegetables are cleaned, pealed, sliced or diced and ready for use. Then I take a big pot and heat some olive oil. First in are the onions, until they are going see-through, after which I add the celery and carrot. Leave the vegetables on for about 5 minutes on medium high heat, make sure they don’t brown. Then add the courgette and the mushrooms and wait another two minutes. I use this time to put on the kettle, so my water is hot when I need it. Add the tomato pure, stir in and let it sauté with the veg. When the water comes to the boil, add 800 ml to the vegetable mix and stir, giving the tomato pure a chance to dissolve. Pop in the stock cubes, the Italian herbs and pepper to taste. Bring the soup to the boil, lower the heat and with the lid on top let the soup simmer for about 30 minutes. You can add a bit of crushed dried chillies, these will give a nice kick to the soup without overpowering its taste, but you don’t have to the soup is great even without the chillies. After 30 minutes, all the vegetables should be soft enough to blend. Be careful when you put hot liquids in the blender. Never use it till its full capacity and keep the lid off, so pressure can’t build up inside. I always have a tea towel ready to keep over the opening. Pour some of the soup in the blender and blend until smooth, continue this process until the entire stock is bright orange and smooth.

I usually serve this with some sour cream and chunky, dark bread. The soup tastes great the minute you take it from the stove, but it is even better the next day when all the flavours have had time to blend really well.

A nice variation, for men who believe a meal is not a proper meal without some meat in it, like my dad or my boyfriend, is to change this recipe into a minestrone soup by simply adding half Italian salami and some pasta.

Minestrone

1 big carrot or half a bunch of smaller carrots
3 sticks of celery
125 gr courgette, no skin and cut into cubes
1 onion, finely chopped
125 gr mushrooms, quartered
1 small can of tomato pure
2 stock cubes, vegetarian, so I used herb stock cubes
800 ml hot water
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
half a salami sausage, diced
pepper

To start with, I fry the onion and the salami, so the fat from the salami will melt into the pan, releasing its flavours, which will then mix with the vegetables and the stock. After having fried the salami and the onions, I continue like the vegetarian version of this recipe. The big difference is though that instead of blending the soup to make it smooth, I add some pasta which I cook in the soup and once cooked I serve it as it is. I leave out the crushed chillies and perhaps add a bit more of the Italian herbs and pepper to taste. You can also substitute the pasta with potato or chick peas, but we like it best with the pasta. Enjoy!