For those days when you just need a bit of comfort, even in spring this is the perfect soup. Velvety and filling, this soup is balanced with sweet and creamy flavours from the combination of carrot and cashew.
- 500g carrots
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 garlic clove
- Handful of coriander
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 35g cashew nuts
- 1 lemon
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 750ml boiling water
- Heat your oven to 200C/gas 6. Scrub the carrots and chop into 1cm-thick batons. Scatter into a roasting tin. Sprinkle over 1 tsp of ground coriander, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle over 1 tbsp of oil and toss well until evenly coated. Slide into the oven to roast for 20 mins. Cook until golden on the outside and tender in the middle.
- Meanwhile, peel and crush the garlic. Separate the coriander leaves and stalks, and finely chop the stalks (save the leaves for later).
- Bring a dry pan to a medium–high heat. Add the cashews and fry for 2–3 mins, turning frequently, until toasted on all sides. Tip the cashews into a bowl. Reduce the heat of pan to medium and add 1 tbsp olive oil.
- Slide the garlic and coriander stalks into the pan, together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Fry for 1 min, stirring frequently. Top up with 750ml of boiling water and crumble in the stock cube. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and keep warm.
- When the carrots are cooked, transfer to the pan and use a stick blender to whizz everything into a smooth soup. Don’t have a stick blender? Pour the soup (in batches if needed) into a blender and blitz. Squeeze in half of the lemon juice and have a taste. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Roughly crush the cashews and finely chop the coriander leaves. Ladle the soup into deep bowls and sprinkle over the nuts and coriander. Serve with wedges of the leftover lemon half.