Here’s another soup recipe to add to your collection of soup and salad dinner menu options! Enjoy!
Carrot Soup with Fennel or Spinach Pesto
Serves 6
Fennel fronds from the tops of fresh fennel bulbs are ground with fennel seeds to make a flavorful pesto.
Soup Ingredients:
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 medium leek, thinly sliced (1½ cups)
4 large shallots, thinly sliced (1¼ cups)
4 cloves garlic, minced (1½ Tbs.)
1 cup dry white wine
1¾ lb. carrots, sliced (4 cups)
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
2 cups water
Pesto Ingredients:
½ tsp. fennel seeds
1 Tbs. chopped fennel fronds or fresh dill
1 Tbs. pine nuts
1 small clove garlic, minced
⅛ tsp. sea salt
2 Tbs. olive oil
½ tsp. grated lemon zest
1. To make Soup:
Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leek and shallots, and sauté 4 minutes. Stir in garlic and wine; simmer 5 minutes. Add carrots, broth, and 2 cups water. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 45 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
2. To make Pesto:
Heat fennel seeds in skillet over medium heat 3 to 4 minutes, or until seeds darken, shaking pan frequently. Transfer to bowl, and cool. Place in mortar and pestle, and pound until finely ground. Add fennel fronds, pine nuts, garlic, and salt, and pound to paste. Stir in oil and lemon zest.
3. Purée Soup in blender (or use an immersion blender) until smooth. Thin with up to 1 cup water, if necessary, to achieve desired consistency. Serve Soup garnished with Pesto.
NOTE:
If your not a fan of fennel, here is a Spinach Pesto to top your soup with instead:
Spinach Pesto:
4 cups spinach
1/2 cup pine nuts, walnuts or pecans
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
To make Pesto:
Combine the spinach, garlic, nuts, salt, pepper and nutritional yeast in a food processor. Pulse until blended. Scrape down the sides of the food processor, turn it back on and add the olive oil through the top in a slow stream until the pesto reaches desired consistency.
Recipe Inspiration: Vegetarian Times, September 2010 p.68
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