I’ve finally found a recipe for cream of carrot soup that doesn’t taste like baby food. It is made from roasted carrots and fennel, two vegetables that go so well together. I must confess that I picked my carrots from my garden this morning, on a warm summer rain. It sounds enchanting, doesn’t it? So, I chopped the vegetables, I drizzled some olive oil and I roasted them in the oven, just to enhance their flavor. After they were nice and brown, I simmered them in vegetable soup, with red onion, wine and thyme. At the end I flavored the soup with some fragrant roasted garlic. The result was a delicious and hearty soup. The funny thing is that only long after I enjoyed this divine soup I realized that it was in fact vegan. My family never suspected!

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• 600g carrots (500g after the cleaning / peeling process)
• 1 large fennel bulb (about 200g)
• 3 – 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 chilli (deseeded)
• 60ml dry red wine
• 2 Tbsp tomato puree
• 1l – 1,2l vegetable soup
• salt and pepper to taste
• 100ml vegan cream (optional)
• pistachio nuts (for serving)

Method:

1. Peel the carrots and slice them. Clean the fennel and slice it (picture).
2. Trim about 1 cm off the bottom of the garlic head. Drizzle with sea salt and olive oil and wrap it loosely in aluminium foil. Place the package in the preheated oven at 190°C/375°F (gas mark 5).
3. Place the carrot and the fennel slices on a parchment paper-lined tray and drizzle 2 Tbsp olive oil. Put the tray in the oven next to the garlic package and roast the carrots and the fennel for 40 minutes, until the veggies are caramelized, stirring everything every 10 minutes. My garlic was ready in 30 minutes.
4. After 30 minutes (10 minutes before the carrots and the fennel are ready) pour the vegetable broth in a skillet and reheat it. In another skillet sautee the chopped onion in 1 Tbsp of olive oil until it’s translucent. Add the chopped chili and cook it for 30 seconds.
5. Add the wine and cook the mixture on high heat until the liquid has reduced by half. Add the tomato puree, the roasted carrots and fennel and the hot vegetable broth.
6. Simmer the soup for 15 minutes and then puree it using a blender. Take the garlic from the package and press the bottom of the garlic head to extract the garlic puree.
7. Add the garlic puree and the cream and pulse again for about 10 seconds. Season with salt and pepper and serve the soup in bowls with pistachio nuts for croutons.

Source: www.jamieoliver.com