classic cream of carrot soup

I could go crazy on a night like tonight when summer’s beginning to give up her fight and every thought’s a possibility and voices are heard but nothing is seen. -Indigo Girls

When the days get cooler and shorter and summer begins to give up her fight, we all do the same. We put on sweaters, gather our harvest, and nourish ourselves with luxurious soups. Soups such as this cream of carrot soup, rich in colour, flavour and texture.

This is a cream soup but to me, the cream is optional here. There is sufficient butter in this recipe to result in a rich, creamy soup. Savory also works well here and can be used instead of thyme.

Classic Cream of Carrot Soup (adapted from here)

This recipe makes a lot of soup, upwards of 12 servings.

• 113 g (1/2 cup) butter
• 300 g chopped onions (about 2 medium)
• 325 g chopped potatoes (about 2 large)
• 140 g chopped celery (about 2 ribs)
• 650 g chopped carrots (about 5 cups)
• 6 cups of vegetable stock (my recipe is here) or chicken stock
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 heaping tbsp. thyme leaves (or use 1 tsp dried thyme)
• 1 cup 35% cream (optional)
• pepper to taste

1. Melt butter in a large casserole (I use my 5.4 L dutch oven pot) over medium heat, be sure not to burn the butter. Add the chopped vegetables and cook for a few minutes, mixing to coat them with butter. Add the stock, salt and the thyme. Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, ensuring all the vegetables are tender and can be easily mashed with the back of a spoon. Purée the soup using a blender (I prefer using an immersion blender directly in the dutch oven).
2. At this point, the soup may be cooled and frozen in individual containers.
3. When serving, add cream if you like and season with freshly ground pepper.

Note: The large amount of butter that goes into this soup classifies it as a cream soup. Adding the 35% cream is certainly not required to bring this soup to a cream soup level but doing so won’t hurt. I always omit the cream.