My favourite time to make soups such as borscht, corn chowder and minestrone is summer, when I can stock them with locally grown vegetables.
The kind of soup I make depends on what inspires me at a farm market. Recently, it was the most amazing bunch of carrots — they looked just-picked, with stunning greens tops, and I knew they would shine when whirled into a silky smooth carrot soup.
I started by turning some of the leafy green tops into a carrot-top chimichurri as a topping for the soup.
Chimichurri is zesty Argentinean-style fresh green sauce. In this version, the carrot tops, which taste like a mix of carrots and parsley, replace some of the herbs normally included.
To make the soup, I scrubbed the carrots well, sliced them, sautéed them with onion and jalapeño pepper from the market, mixed in flour and cumin, added stock, simmered the soup, and blended it.
After the soup was ladled into bowls, it was topped with a generous swirl of the carrot-top chimichurri.
Snap-Top Carrot Soup with Carrot-Top Chimichurri
Summer carrots blended into silky smooth soup topped with a zesty chimichurri sauce made with the leafy green carrot tops.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: about 25 minutes
Makes: four servings
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 cups sliced snap-top carrots (see Note)
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 medium jalapeño pepper, halved, seeded and sliced
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cumin
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock, plus more, if needed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Carrot-Top Chimichurri (see recipe below)
Place oil in a pot set over medium heat (my pot was eight inches wide, and six inches tall). Add carrots, onion and jalapeño and cook until softened, about five minutes. Mix in the flour and cumin and cook one minute more.
While stirring, slowly pour in one cup of the stock. When mixture becomes thick, slowly mix in the remaining stock. Bring soup to a gentle simmer, adjusting the heat as needed to maintain that simmer. Simmer soup until carrots are very tender, about 15 minutes.
Purée the soup in a food processor or blender, or in the pot with an immersion (hand) blender. Blend a bit more stock into the soup, if you find it too thick.
Set the soup back on the heat, return to a simmer, and taste and season with salt and pepper, as needed. Ladle the soup into bowls, top each serving with a generous swirl of the carrot-top chimichurri, and serve.
Note: One large or two smaller bunches of snap-top carrots should yield the amount of sliced carrots needed here. Trim the tops off the carrots and scrub them well before slicing. No need to peel them if their skin is thin. I cut the carrots, widthwise, into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Use some of the carrot tops in the chimichurri recipe below and save the rest to chop and add to a salad, such as tabbouleh, or soup stock.
Carrot-Top Chimichurri
In this version of chimichurri, leafy green carrot tops replace some of the herbs normally included. You could also serve this chimichurri with grilled foods, such as sausages, vegetables, steaks, chicken and salmon.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: None
Makes: about 3/4 to 1 cup
1 cup carrot tops, sliced into 2-inch long pieces, plus more if needed
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves or Italian (flat leaf) parsley, or mix of both
2 to 3 large garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more if needed
Blend ingredients in a food processor until a fresh green sauce forms. Add a bit more oil, if you find the chimichurri too thick. Or, blend in more carrot tops, if you find it too thin. Transfer chimichurri to a jar, seal and refrigerate until needed. It will keep several days in the refrigerator.
Note: Wash and dry the carrot tops well before slicing and using them.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
