Carrot and Ginger Soup

Preparation

• 1
  First prepare the vegetables. Peel, halve lengthways and slice the carrots, peel, halve and finely chop 2 of the onions, peel and grate the fresh ginger and peel the garlic.
• 2
  Heat the olive oil and butter together in a large saucepan and gently sauté the chopped onions for 3-4 minutes, until soft but not browned.
• 3
  Add the carrots and cook over a low heat for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the crushed garlic for a final 2 minutes.
• 4
  Add the ground ginger and a grating of fresh nutmeg [or half a teaspoon of ground nutmeg if you don’t have it], then stir in the hot vegetable stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the carrots are really tender.
• 5
  Top up the soup with a little more stock if it appears to be too thick. Blend or liquidise the soup until it is completely smooth. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
• 6
  When you are going to serve the soup, peel, halve and very finely slice the remaining onion. Heat a tablespoon of sunflower oil in a small wok or frying pan, turn the heat low and cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are caramelised but not burnt and bitter. Place on a piece of kitchen towel on a plate and keep warm.
• 7
  Reheat the soup then turn off the heat, add 50ml of single cream and stir in well. Ladle out the soup into bowls and top each one with a spoonful of crème fraiche topped with a small heap of caramelised onions.
• 8
  [If you don’t have time to cook the onion garnish, you could simply garnish with crème fraiche and snipped chives.]