Lifestyle

Carrot soup and clams | Nigel Slater


The recipe

Peel and roughly chop 500g of carrots, then cook in boiling vegetable stock for about 20 minutes until very tender. Drain the carrots then purée them in a blender or food processor with 50g of butter and enough of the stock to make a thick soup.

Peel and finely chop 2 medium-sized shallots, 3 cloves of garlic and then finely chop 1 large, mild red chilli. Warm 40g of butter and 2 tbsp of in a large, shallow pan to which you have a lid, then add the chopped shallots, garlic and chilli and fry until the shallots are soft and golden.

Turn up the heat, add 700g of clams and cover tightly with a lid. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until the clams have opened. Pour the carrot purée into warm soup bowls then spoon the clams and aromatics over with a little of the liquor from the pan.
Enough for 2

The trick

Cook the carrots for slightly longer than you would for those you would serve as a vegetable. They are ready when they can easily be crushed between thumb and finger. The quality of the stock is important. If you use powdered bouillon it is worth adding a couple of bay leaves, a small onion and some sprigs of thyme.

The twist

You can cook mussels in a similar fashion, the sweetness of the seafood and the carrots work neatly with one another. I like to include a piece of garlic bread with this soup. Fry finely crushed garlic in butter until soft and slightly caramelised, then brush on a piece of thick toast and serve with the soup.

We aim to publish recipes for fish rated as sustainable by the Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide

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