Thu. Nov 7th, 2024

In this issue of the soup chronicles, I wanted to try something different.  I’m not completely sure what inspired me to try and make carrot soup other than the fact my husband loves carrot juice.  I figured If I made it and he loved it, it was a win.  Little did I know it was like the championship game victory with play by play action.
When I first started with the idea of the carrot soup I had no intentions of adding basil…in fact I had no direction at all.  I bought 1 package of carrots and well that was that. Ha!  How naive was I to think all I needed was carrots and broth.  I started by peeling my carrots and slicing them into medallions to boil.  I figured it would cook much faster this way.  I was right only I didn’t have enough carrots…I send husband back to the store to buy more.

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1 inch thick cut medallions

Next is where the tricky part came in.  With the carrots all boiled and soft how was I to make them into a creamy soup?  Due to our move and the uncertainty of living arrangements, I left most of my electrical appliances in storage in the states.  That meant I had no blender or hand mixer…what the what?  Panic began to set in because I had no idea how I was going to make a creamy soup.  What I did next was out of pure desperation.  I grabbed my potato masher.
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I mashed and mashed and mashed… still not smooth

I continued to mash those potatoes thinking of all the gadgets I had in my half unpacked house that could help me make it smooth.  My mind wandered to the soup maker I had seen at the local Tesco and how I should have just bought it, then I dawned on me.  I had mailed my mini ninja from my office before I left.  I started tearing through boxes and I found it!  I was saved…well kind of.  The ninja only held about 3-4 cups of the carrots at a time.  I had to scoop, blend, pour back in the pot and then scoop again.  It was a process y’all.  Little did I know, this whole ordeal turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  I was able to get the soup to the creamy and smooth consistency it should be with a few chunks of carrot here and there.  To be honest, it worked out for the best because it added a layer of texture that would not have been there if it were completely smooth.  I’m glad I was able to work pull off this soup because it was AMAZING!!!  My 7 month old gobbled this soup right up and it was the perfect consistency for her. I even used the fresh basil from my basil plant.  Here is the finished product and recipe below (minus the crazy kinks).
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Carrot Basil Soup

3lbs carrots                                                                       2 Tbsp fresh parsley (finely chopped)

1/4 cup heavy cream                                                       2 Tbsp fresh basil (finely chopped)

32 oz. chicken broth or vegetable broth                     2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp butter                                                                    1 Tbsp sugar

Peel and chop carrots into 1 inch medallions and add to stockpot and boil until soft.  Drain carrots and add to blender.  Puree until smooth or desired consistency is reached.  Add 1 Tbsp of butter to stockpot and melt then add carrots into pot. Let cook 5-10 minutes.  Add salt, sugar and 1/4 cup of heavy cream and stir.  Add basil and parsley and cook additional 10 minutes.

Makes 6-8 Servings.

*Add additional basil to taste – (I like a lot of basil)
**To make completely vegetarian friendly substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth**

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