Monkey Business

By: Teri

I've been toying around with the idea of carrot soup for a long time, but have always been afraid to give it a try. I've made pumpkin soup, potato soup, won ton soup, and everything in between. But something about carrots are just so daunting! Despite being one of my favorite vegetables, the thought of them pureed and in soup form just seems so bland, banal, and well...akin to baby food.

Carrots are a 'safe' vegetable. They're old reliable, dependable. But don't they deserve more than being the other half of frozen peas, or to suffer the fate of swimming in a pool of hydrogenated ranch dressing forevermore? I think they do.

I decided to jazz them up, roast 'em, puree them, and make a bomb diggity, creamy, savory soup that will go equally well on a cold winter's night, or on a nice, quaint, mild fall evening.

Savory Carrot and Russet Soup with Roasted Garlic

3 large carrots, chopped into chunks

1 large carrot, diced finely

1 medium sized russet potato, chopped into chunks

1/2 red onion, diced finely

1 stalk celery, diced finely (optional)

3 cloves roasted garlic

1/2 cup dry white wine

3 cups seasoned vegetable stock

1 cup half and half or heavy cream

4 stalks spring onion, chopped down to the whites

olive oil

sea salt and course ground black pepper

sprig rosemary

crushed red pepper

Spread out carrot chunks and potato chunks (leave the skin on, if you dare) on a lightly greased baking sheet. Sprinkle on rosemary, red pepper, sea salt and course ground black pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until nicely roasted and potatoes are golden brown.

In a large soup pot, saute red onions, celery and the remaining carrot until tender in olive oil, then reduce heat to low. Add 1/2 cup of wine to deglaze, stirring to incorporate, then add 2 cups vegetable stock. Reduce heat to low.

In a food processor or blender, add roasted carrots, potatoes, and 1 cup of vegetable stock. Add 3 cloves roasted garlic*. Pulse until liquefied. Add the puree to the soup pot, stirring to combine. Once the mixture is incorporated, add the half and half and stir until creamy. Bring heat back up to medium high. Once mixture begins to bubble, reduce heat again to medium low and let simmer for about 20 minutes or until reaches desired consistency. The soup will thicken as it simmers, so you may wish to add more stock or half and half to reach your desired consistency.

Salt and pepper to taste, and add chopped spring onions as a garnish. I served mine with toasted sour dough bread topped with asiago cheese. Amazing.

*A note about roasted garlic. For those of you who have never done it, it is amazingly easy. And tasty. Roasting it at a high heat takes out all the bitter, overly strong flavors and replaces it with this amazing, sweet, salty and savory taste that is simply out of this world on everything from bread to pasta, or in soups, such as this recipe. It is soooo good!

Simply take a bulb of garlic, and chop off the pointy top. Place on a plate or oven safe dish, and coat generously with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 400 degrees for at least an hour; more if you prefer the garlic softer and easier to spread. Once it is completely browned, and your house smells like an Italian Restaurant, it's probably done. Take it out of the oven, cool, and squeeze the bulb from the bottom. Most of the fragrant, roasted garlic will squeeze easily out of the skins. You may have to go in with your hands and pull out/scrape out the remaining to get all the delicious bits. Store in an airtight container in your fridge.

Just looking at the picture makes me hungry...

For the vino portion of this meal, I chose a wine from my very favorite winery: Monkey Bay. They are out of New Zealand, naturally, and make the yummiest, most delicious and affordable wines. They are smooth, crisp and all have a delicious citrusy hint, with notes of passionfruit, feijoa (that's pineapple guava to you), and lemon.

I chose their Rose for this particular meal (my favorite of their wines is actually the Sauvignon Blanc. I could drink nothing else for the rest of my life and be content).

This wine was perfect for this meal because, like the soup, it has a hint of sweetness without being cloying or overly biting. It is a dry wine, but has a perfect, clean finish and plays perfectly against the sweetness of the carrots and the savory depth of the roasted garlic. I could drink the whole bottle and be very happy indeed (though I'd probably have a massive headache tomorrow morning).

Until the next kitchen adventure, toodle-oo!