New Recipe – Creamy Carrot Soup Anna Maria Luisa*

My husband and I love purees and creamy soups made of any vegetable we find either in the fridge or in my husband´s high bed garden. His cultured organic carrots are really the best! There are unfortunately at this time of the year no carrots in the garden. But there are always carrots in the fridge as we both love them (julienned in a consommé or – much better raw – sliced, diced or julienned in a salad). As Easter is not so far, and Easter Bunnies eat as is generally known carrots, I chose this vegetable, or better: this root. The second reason to prepare a carrot soup is the actual Middle European weather. It is grey, rainy and cold, so one needs something colourful, warm and even hot.

• Ingredients (serves 2)

• oil for the pan
• ½ of an onion
• 4 – 6 carrots (depends on the size)
• salt, pepper, chilli flakes
• ½ of a vegetable stock cube (must be organic)
• 2 – 4 Tbsp oil
• radish cress, parsley
• roasted and salted walnuts or hazelnuts or toasted croutons (this recipe)

Heat the oil in a soup pot and add the diced onion. Add the roughly chopped carrots, cook and stir. Salt, pepper.

Add 4 – 5 cups of water and the vegetable stock cube. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer 20 – 25 minutes.

Add oil. Blend with a hand blender (or in a blender). Taste and salt if necessary.

Serve and garnish with chilli flakes, radish cress or parsley. I often add roasted and salted walnuts or toasted croutons made from the starch free bread (this recipe).

*She was the only daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo III and collected like many other women of cultured classes recipes. Up to the 19^th century food was nutrition and medicine, and the housewife was at the same time cook and doctor.