Carrot’s sweet intensity can stand up to powerful herbs and spices. In this beguiling Thai-inspired soup, it also gets chilli and ginger, kaffir lime leaves (available, incidentally, dried in jars) and orange zest, with a final squeeze of lime. Delicious with coriander garlic bread.
Serves 4
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 30 min
750g carrots
1 large onion, 150g
3 large garlic cloves
50g ginger
2 kaffir lime leaves
¼ (quarter) tsp chilli flakes
2 juicing oranges
50g creamed coconut or small carton coconut cream
1 lime
1 1/2 chicken or vegetable stock cubes
1 baguette or similar
50g butter
25g coriander
Boil the kettle. Trim, scrape and grate the carrots. Finely chop the peeled onion. Peel 2 garlic cloves. Peel and grate or finely chop the ginger. Place all these ingredients in a pan with the lime leaves, chilli, a 7x3cm strip orange zest and juice from both oranges. Crumble the stock cubes over the top and add 800ml boiling water from the kettle. Simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes until very tender. Remove the lime leaves and liquidize. Reheat with the crumbled coconut and lime juice and salt to taste. While the soup cooks, heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Finely chop the remaining garlic. Melt the butter, stir in the garlic and chopped coriander. Place the loaf on a large sheet of tinfoil. Make diagonal slashes 3cm apart but don’t cut right through. Spoon the garlic butter over and down the slits. Close the parcel and bake for 10 minutes. Unfurl for 5 minutes to crisp the top.