Cream of Carrot Soup

HeatherFeather's Note:

Rich tasting, warm and comforting. I had a recipe I loved for this soup, but the original called for a lot more butter and 2 cups of heavy cream. I didn't really want to save this soup for special occasions only, so I attempted to reduce the fat & calories by reducing the butter and replacing the cream with evaporated milk - I have even tried evaporated skim milk with success (but it is better with whole evaporated milk). If I am serving this to guests, I use the half-n- half, but for just me I like it with the milk. I have never missed the cream in this.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 cup onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
• 4 1/2 cups carrots, peeled,thinly sliced
• 1 large potato, peeld,cubed
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans 98% fat free chicken broth or 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger powder
• 2 cups evaporated milk or 2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a large stockpot, melt butter and saute onion until soft and tender, about 5 minutes or so.
2. Add carrots, potatoes, chicken broth, and ginger powder.
3. Cover and cook on medium heat 30 minutes or until veggies are very tender.
4. Remove from heat and let cool 15 minutes.
5. Using a stick blender, puree the soup right in the pot (or pour some into a blender and puree- you'll have to do this in batches though).
6. Return to heat and add milk, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
7. Cook over low heat until heated through, maybe 5 minutes or so.

Reviews

[Geema]

This soup is creamy and delicious! I used some whole milk with good results since I didn't have either of the other kinds, only needing about 1 1/2 cups to get the right creamy texture. Instead of the powdered ginger, I used 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger, and a peeled chopped apple to the saute mix. Maybe I wasn't feeling adventurous, but I left out the rosemary, which I usually love. It didn't seem to go with the apple/ginger addition that I made. This is an easy, nutritous soup, Heather that my DH and I enjoyed very much.

[SarasotaCook]

There is a thread on carrots going and it reminded me that I never reviewed this.
I really enjoyed this recipe. I did use fresh ginger vs powdered and used half and half (not a fan of evaporated milk). I also added 1 small clove of garlic. I used vegetable broth as I wanted to keep it vegetarian which tasted very very good. I also added a bit of fresh parsley and garnished it with a few chives.

But I don't think the small amount of garlic or parsley changed the flavor. It was good as is. A very easy, warm comfort soup. Will definitely make it again!
Thx Heather
kim

[iris5555]

I left out the rosemary because I don't like it and used skim milk. This was still very tasty though I think I'd use a tad bit less ginger next time.