Orange Soup

A long time ago, I invented something I called Orange Soup, and it was a pretty big hit with friends. It had all orange food I could think of: sweet potatoes, carrots, red lentils and the grated rind and juice of one orange. Plus curry powder. It was hot and good for you and everyone loved it.

Unfortunately, I can't remember how to make it and I never wrote it down.

But tonight, I tried a simplified version that turned out pretty well: Cream of Carrot and Orange soup.

Take:

an onion, chopped
two cloves of garlic, minced
about five or six small to medium carrots
a few sticks of celery
an ounce of butter

tablespoon or so of chestnut flour

2 cups chicken stock
half an orange
tablespoon of curry powder
250 ml heavy cream

Saute all the veg in a heavy bottomed pot in the butter until the onions are soft. Turn the heat down. Sprinkle the chestnut flour (sweet and very flavourful, but probably expensive outside Italy, you can substitute wheat flour... if you don't care about your health) over the veg, mixing it all around until the flour has absorbed all the remaining butter.

Pour in the chicken stock, adding curry powder to taste (I get mine at the Bangladeshi's at the big Esquiline Market near Termini train station, but it's pretty hot stuff, so careful,) the juice of the 1/2 orange, and allow to simmer until the carrots are soft. (An easy method of juicing an orange is to use the round end of a wooden spoon. Don't buy one of those stupid juicer things. They're a waste because they never get all the juice and you end up throwing away most of the pulp.) If you want a more orangey tasting soup, grate in a little of the rind while the veg is sauteing.

When the carrots are very soft, pour about half into a blender and add half the cream. Blend on high for a minute or so. Pour it back into the pot and bring up to heat.

Eat with a little apple and ricotta salad.



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