Curry Carrot Soup

My winter CSA subscription has had my kitchen looking like Bugs Bunny’s Apocalypse bunker. There are so many carrots! But they’re absolutely fabulous carrots, wonderfully sweet, super fresh, consistently the best carrots I’ve ever had. It’s been a pleasure to collect them, really.

Back in January on a deep, dark, very cold evening, I invited friends for an informal gathering, complete with soup, biscuits, cookies (a version of these and some of these, unfrosted), and a viewing of a particularly stunning Rifftrax episode. I made gigantic batches of a basic vegetable soup and this delightfully orange, thick and creamy Curry Carrot Soup. To my very pleasant surprise, the Curry Carrot Soup was gigantic hit, and it disappeared rather quickly.

Since I followed my usual habit of just “throwing something together” without writing anything down, I had to try to piece together what I did later, and I think I came pretty close. I also put a few twists into the official recipe that were things I had meant to do, but couldn’t, like squeeze in some lime juice (I used a lemon originally, because it was all I had) and add more spice (I wasn’t sure what my guests would like.)

This soup is actually rather simple in construction, and really is mostly made of carrots. It is quite thick and very smooth and creamy if you blend it well, and you could adjust the consistency with more broth or water. It is vegetarian as it is, but you could use chicken broth instead of vegetable broth if you like. You could also increase the oil and omit the butter, and replace the cream with coconut milk or leave it out to make it vegan. I love the warm, earthy spice of lots of curry powder in this, but if you have a favorite homemade spice blend, so much the better. The seasonings and spice level can be adjusted to taste.

I had the absolute honor and pleasure of making several people happy with a big batch of this soup, and they will never know that this creation was inspired by a need to clean up a huge bunch of carrots. Oops, I guess the cat is out of the bag now. Or the carrots. The many, many carrots.

Curry Carrot Soup

Adjust the seasonings to your personal taste, or make this vegan by leaving out the cream and butter. You could replace the cream with coconut milk.

This recipe can be doubled. Just make sure you have a large enough pot to cook it in.

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

2 teaspoons coarse salt

3 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons curry powder

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

4 cups vegetable broth or water

Juice of 1 lime

½ cup heavy cream or half and half

Sour cream or plain yogurt for serving, optional

1. Combine the butter and olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Heat over medium heat until butter is melted.

2. Add the onion, celery, and salt and saute about 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent, but not yet browning. Stir in the carrots, curry powder and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook and stir 8-10 minutes, or until the carrots are beginning to get softer around the edges.

3. Pour in the water or broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and cook at a low boil for 30-40 minutes, or until the carrots are very soft.

4. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. In batches, carefully transfer the mixture to a blender. Blend until very smooth. Return the pureed mixture to the pot on the stove.

5. Reheat the soup gently over low heat. Stir in the lime juice and heavy cream. Taste the soup for seasoning, especially for salt and curry, and adjust as desired. Serve with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt if desired.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Other recipes like this one: Cream of Carrot and Parsnip Soup, Creamy White Onion Soup, Spicy Carrot and Apple Soup with Coconut Milk, Creamy Cabbage and Potato Soup, Potato and Garlic Scape Soup with Chives

Coming soon: Carrot Cake and Rye Soda Bread