Carrot and Parsley Soup

A thick sweet soup, with a lovely silky feel and the bite of celery. This is a simple soup is quick and requires just a handful of ingredients. It also requires very little cooking, and is a great choice for lunch or dinner on lazy days. Also remember to use fresh celery and parsley, as they are the dominant flavours in the soup, and slightly old and wilted celery and parsley have a slightly bitter undertone, that makes the soup unappetizing.

Ingredients

• 4 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
• a small bunch of curly parsley, chopped
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 bayleaf
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a deep bottomed pan and add the garlic.
2. Fry the garlic until its just cooked, but don't brown it. 
3. Add the carrots and celery and lower the heat. Sweat out the carrots until they soften.
4. Add the stock, 3/4ths of the parsley and bayleaf, and cook covered, on low heat, until the carrots are completely cooked through. 
5. Add the salt and pepper and mix around, then take off the heat, and let it cool.
6. Once cool enough to blend, remove the bayleaf and add a ladle full to a food processor. 
7. Blitz until smooth, and keep adding ladles and blending until you get a smooth and thick soup.
8. Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve up.