Carrot-y Carrot Soup with Furikake
Ingredients
Carrot Soup:
- 1/4 cup 1/2 stick unsalted butter
- *1 strip of kombu optional
- 2 bunches carrots 2 pounds, ends trimmed and discarded and cut into 1/4-inch slices
- Salt
- 15 ounces carrot juice freshly juiced or store-bought is ok, see note below
- 3/4 cup to 1 1/4 cup water
Furikake Topping:
- 1 tablespoon shredded or diced toasted nori from about 1/4 sheet
- 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons black sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon minced bonito flakes
Instructions
- In a medium pot, set over medium low heat, melt the butter. Add the kombu, if using, and add the carrots. Sprinkle the carrots with about 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cover the pot and cook until very tender, about 30 minutes. Using a fork, test the softness of the carrots. They should halve very easily with the side of a fork. Discard the used kombu.
- Just a heads up, depending on the size of your blender, you may need to puree the carrots with the carrot juice in batches. Add half of the carrot juice (you can eyeball this measurement) to the blender. Pour in the cooked carrots and pulse until very smooth, adding the remaining carrot juice. Pour in 3/4 cup to 1 1/4 cup of water, depending on how you like the soup. It shouldn’t be so thick that it’s like baby food. It should be slightly drizzling.
- Pour the carrot soup back in the pot and warm over medium heat. Salt to taste. (I added about 1/4 teaspoon of salt.) Turn the heat down to low to keep warm while you mix together the furikake.
- In a small bowl, toss together the nori, white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds and bonito flakes. Divide the soup amongst bowls and garnish with a handful of furikake.
Notes
*Kombu is sea kelp. It can be found at most Asian supermarkets and Whole Foods. It's super optional--if you don't have it or don't feel like buying it, feel free to skip it. I do love adding it to broths and rice.
*If you juice your own carrots vs. buying juice at the store, you'll most likely need about a pound more of carrots. See above in post for link to the brand of fresh, store-bought carrot juice I used.
*I left out the sugar in the furikake mixture. The carrots I used were super sweet!
Nutrition
Serving: 4g