Carrot and Coriander Soup

This is a delicious soup, filling enough as a main meal and healthier than any canned variety.

Ingredients

For 1	Continued...
1 tbspn oil	400 ml chicken stock (see notes 1)
15 gm butter	100 gm potato (prepared weight) (see notes 2)
100 gm leek (prepared weight)	3 tbspn crème fraîche (see notes 3)
120 gm carrot (prepared weight)	salt to taste
2 tspn ground coriander	freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Chop the leeks into 'rounds' (see picture).
Peel and chop the carrot into 'rounds' (see picture).
Peel and chop the potato into approx 1 inch cubes.

Cooking

Heat the oil and butter in a decent sized saucepan over a low to medium heat and fry the leeks and carrot for 10 min, stirring regularly.
Stir in the ground coriander and cook, stirring, for 1 min.
Add the stock and potato, bring to a boil, and simmer, covered, for 20 min, stirring occasionally.
Blend until smooth.
Return to the heat and stir in the crème fraîche, season to taste (see notes 4) and heat through.

Serving

Serve with toast and optionally garnished with a little more crème fraîche and/or freshly chopped coriander.

Notes

(1) Vegetable stock can be used for a vegetarian version.
(2) For a thinner and less filling starter the potato can be omitted.
(3) Double cream can be used instead of crème fraîche but be careful not to boil as the double cream tends to split.
(4) If stock cubes are used extra salt will probably not be needed.

The main ingredients

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