Carrot & Jerusalem
Artichoke Soup

Time to enjoy some hearty winter vegetable soups; this one enlivens carrots to make a really filling nutty tasting soup.

For 4 People you will need:

450g of carrots, peeled and slice
250g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled or scrubbed and sliced
2 sticks of celery, washed and sliced
120g of peeled and sliced shallots or 1 medium onion or leek
1 red Sandia chilli, deseeded and slice (or red capsicum, or red chilli or ALL!)
1.25 litres of Chicken or Vegetable Stock
3 tablespoons of virgin olive oil
Season to taste

Method:

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil over a moderate heat and add all the vegetables ingredients at once.  Stir well through the oil and sweat over a gentle heat either by placing a lid on the saucepan or placing some baking paper closely fitting on top of the vegetables.  Sweat for 20/30 minutes to really extract the flavours ~ checking from time to time that the heat is not too fierce and they are not burning!

Add the stock and bring to a rolling simmer for about 15minutes until vegetables are soft.

Puree in a blender or for a more coarse soup with a stick blender to retain some of the vegetables characteristics.