Ingredients

  • Soup
    • 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted and cooled
    • ¼ cup olive oil, extra virgin
    • 1 cup shallots, sliced, 4 large
    • 3 large fresh thyme sprigs
    • 2 bay leaves, 1 California bay leaf
    • ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • ¼ teaspoon pepper
    • 3 lbs carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
    • 1 lb beets, trimmed, peeled and cubed
    • 8 cups water, plus additional as needed
    • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • Crisp Carrot Ribbons
    • 4 cups vegetable oil
    • 2 large carrots
    • 2 tablespoons flour

Directions

1. Make Soup: Grind coriander in grinder. Heat oil in 5 qt heavy pot over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook shallots with thyme, bay leaves, and red pepper, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3 minutes. Add carrots, beets, 2 teaspoons coriander, salt, pepper and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, until vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes.
2. Discard bay leaves and any tough thyme stems. Purée soup in batches in a blender until smooth, then return to soup pot. Stir in vinegar and taste for salt and pepper. Add additional water if necessary to thin soup.
3. Make carrot ribbons while soup simmers: Heat 1 inch oil to 350*F in 3 qt pot over medium-high heat.
4. Peel carrots, then continue making thin lengthwise ribbons with peeler until you reach core. Toss ribbons iun flour, shaking off excess, and season with salt.
5. Fry ribbons in 3 or 4 batches until golden along edges, about 1 minute per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain and sprinkle with some of remaining coriander. Return oil to 350*F between batches.
6. Notes: Soup can be made 2 days ahead and chilled. Reheat, thinning with water if desired.
7. Carrot ribbons can be fried 2 hours ahead and kept, uncovered, at warm room temperature.

Notes
Original serves 12.


Keywords
Beet
MacGourmet downloadScarlet Carrot Soup. To import, drag image to your MacGourmet recipe box.