An added benefit of roasting a whole chicken is having the bones to make stock afterward. So last week I found myself with a flavorful broth but little else in the kitchen besides carrots and potatoes. Good thing anything can be made into soup.
I found a BBC recipe for Spicy Carrot and Potato Soup with Parsley Pesto. Well, the Argentine equivalent of parsley pesto is chimichurri, and I happened to have some made already.
The soup itself was simple: broth, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, two tomatoes for acidity, salt, pepper and a dried cayenne pepper. It’s nice on its own, but as I found with the bean and vegetable soup, a spoonful of pesto or chimichurri really enlivens it.
Soups previously: Vegetable with Chimichurri, Carrot and Cilantro, Sopa de Lima, Butternut Squash with Lime, Chili and Bacon
Spicy Carrot and Potato Soup with Chimichurri
Adapted from Gino D’Acampo. Soup really doesn’t need exact measurements, so trust your instincts, or just go with what you have in the kitchen. This is an approximation of what I did to increase the recipe, which had been for one serving.
For soup:
- 5-6 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 10-12 new potatoes, chopped (just to clarify, ‘new’ means small or ‘baby’)
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 dried cayenne chili left whole (or 1-2 teaspoons red chili flakes)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 vine tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped (I also skinned mine, but the original recipe doesn’t call for it.)
- salt and freshly ground pepper
Heat the olive oil in soup pot and fry the carrots, potatoes, onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes, or until tender.
Pour the stock into the pot with the vegetables, stir in the tomatoes and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the chili pepper (I used one dried cayenne, but I like things spicy and could have even used another.) Bring stock to a boil, then simmer until vegetables are soft and flavor has developed, about 20-30 minutes.
Take off heat, and using an immersion blender, process the soup until smooth. (Otherwise, add it to a blender or food processor in batches.)
Serve with a spoonful of chimichurri or pesto.
For the chimichurri
My recipe. The BBC recipe just calls for a ‘pesto’ of parsley and olive oil, but I had made this earlier in the week.
- 2 handfuls flat-leaf parsley
- 1 teaspoon oregano (dried is what I had)
- 1 dried cayenne, deseeded and stem removed (or red chili flakes)
- 1 clove garlic
- salt and pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
Blend dry ingredients in a small food processor until mostly smooth. Stir in olive oil and vinegar with a spoon.
