Friday, July 13, 2012

Carrot soup with cream and roasted pistachios or Karroten creme mit gerösteten Pistazienkernen

Carrots. Rabbits.  That`s what I think of when I see carrots.  I`m not a huge fan.  My mom used to have a bag of carrots for us to snack on after school.  For some reason, they always made me hungrier.  I don`t mind them, really, but I do not like cooked carrots at all.  Anytime they are mixed in with a meal, I will pick them out.  I don`t know what it is about them....

Maybe I am getting older (well, I know I am), or being in a different country is encouraging more of a `just try it`attitude, but when I tried the carrot soup for the first time a few weeks ago*, I did not think I would like it at all.  Boy was I wrong.

What you need:

1 kg of carrots, peeled, ends chopped off and cut into chunks
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 liter of vegetable bouillon
enough sugar to glaze the carrot and onion tops
vollrahm to whip or Schlagrahm
50-75g butter
pistachio kernels
salt and pepper to taste.



In a pan, melt about 25g of the butter. Chop the carrots and onions, but don`t worry about making them small as you will blend them at the end.  Briefly saute, then glaze with sugar and mix.





Put the bouillon in a large pot and add the carrots and onions.  Add the garlic, salt and pepper, and another 25g of butter.  Simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the carrots are tender and allow a fork to easily pass through them.


If you are using vollrahm, use a whisk to beat it up until thickened.  About 2 minutes (with an electric one).



Briefly saute the pistachios in some more butter. Set aside.


Remove the pan from the heat and using an immersion blender, blend up the chunks until everything is smooth.


Pour into a bowl and top with the cream and pistachios.  Serve immediately as the cream will start melting quickly.


I think it tastes best when the cream is then mixed into the soup.



Enjoy!

*Also a cooking class find, though as we are not given measurements most of the time, I may have been a little off.