Spicy Carrot Soup

Another favorite Moose's Tooth soup special, I found this recipe from Food and Wine magazine online and modified it a bit. It tastes the same as the MT soup, but the texture is a little bit runnier. Any ideas how to make it more applesauce-like?? That's the MT texture.

Serves: a lot. I would recommend halving the recipe for a family of 2-3.

1. 5 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
2. 1 pound carrots, coarsely chopped
3. 2 medium celery ribs, coarsely chopped
4. 1 large onion, coarsely chopped
5. 1 leek, white and tender green parts only, coarsely chopped
6. 1 small baking potato (6 ounces), peeled and coarsely chopped
7. 2 teaspoons ground cumin
8. 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
9. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
10. 1 cup low-fat buttermilk or yogurt
11. Salt and lots of freshly ground pepper
12. 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. Coarsely chop the carrots, leek, potato, celery ribs, and onion using a Pampered Chef chopper (or the cheap imitation...or *shudder* with a knife)

2. Add the chicken stock, vegetables, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper to a stock pot.

3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

4. Allow the stock to cool, then ONCE THE SOUP HAS SUFFICIENTLY COOLED purée it in small batches using a blender or food processor (the Magic Bullet works great for this!).

5. Return the puréed soup to the stockpot, then add the buttermilk or yogurt. Heat slowly and carefully to avoid boiling.

6. Season with salt and pepper, then top with the parsley. Enjoy!

I must stress that you allow the soup to cool before puréeing it. I had a dangerous accident where the blender exploded because of the pressure created by the heat. It doesn't have to be cold; just less than boiling.

Original recipe