Carrot Soup with Carrot Top Pesto
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Carrot Soup with Carrot Top PestoCook Time:?45 minutes ? Total Time:?1 hour Luxuriously rich and velvety, this creamy carrot soup is topped with a tangy pesto made from the carrot tops and served with crusty grilled baguette spears.  Ingredients:For Carrot Soup:- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 large carrots (about 1 pound), chopped (removed and reserve carrot tops for pesto)
- 1 medium shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons minced)
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For Carrot Top Pesto:- 2 cups ( 1.25 ounces) loosely packed carrot tops, rinsed well
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons toasted shelled pistachios
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt (slightly less if using salted pistachios)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For Grilled Bread:- 1 La Brea Bakery French Baguette
- olive oil, for brushing
Directions:- Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add carrot to hot oil; season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper and saut¨¦ until starting to soften, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add shallots and cook until translucent, another 5 minutes or so.
- Add vegetable stock and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and continue to gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until broth is noticeably reduced and carrots are very soft, about 30 minutes. Remove bay leaf.
- Carefully transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth (take care blending hot liquids, work in batches if you need to).
- Return pureed soup to saucepan and set over low heat to keep warm. Stir in cream and butter and stir until melted and smooth. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as necessary (you may need more or less depending on the saltiness of your stock).
- For pesto, while soup is simmering, combine carrot tops, olive oil, pistachios, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Taste, then add additional salt and pepper as needed. You can also add more olive oil as desired for a thinner, more ¡®drizzle-able¡¯ consistency if you prefer.
- For grilled bread, heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Slice baguette diagonally into 3/8-inch thick slices. Brush one side of slices generously with olive oil. Place bread slices, oil side down, onto grill pan, lining up the grill ridges so the marks will run diagonally across the pieces of bread.
- Place a heavy skillet on top of bread slices to press them deeper into the grill pan, which will result in better defined grill marks. Let sit for about 2 minutes or until grill marks are very dark brown and crispy. If you want to grill both sides, brush the tops with more olive oil then flip slices over and repeat on second side.
- To serve, ladle soup into warm bowls. Top with a drizzle of pesto and a sprinkle of flake sea salt and finely ground black pepper. Serve with still-warm grilled bread and enjoy!
Source: Love and Olive Oil
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