Roasted Carrot Soup Rocks the House

Roasted Carrot Soup with Dukkah Spice
and Yogurt

These days with email, facebook, and blogs, there is not much reason to get excited about picking up the actual US Postal Service mail - except for the magazines. Even though I spend a certifiably crazy amount of time reading food blogs and recipe sites online, there is just something about getting that Bon Appetit magazine in the mail that I still look forward to every month.

There are always at least a half dozen recipes I mark to try and make, but last month's picture of this Roasted Carrot Soup with Dukkah Spice and Yogurt was so gorgeous and simple that my mom and I ran out to the grocery store within hours to try and replicate it - and it was as good as it looks!

We made the spice mixture a few days in advance and the recipe made plenty - enough for another pot of soup, which I just might make again today, now that I'm looking at this picture and remembering how delicious it was. Yum. Toasting the spices first in a dry skillet helps bring out the flavors, so don't skip that step. The recipe calls for either using a food processor or a mortar and pestle to grind the spices and I'd have to recommend the food processor. We used a mortar and pestle and I did end up with a rather unpleasant chunk of black peppercorn that I could have lived without. Just add the roughly chopped pistachios afterwards for textural contrast.

Roasting the carrots was as easy as could be - just peel, roughly chop, toss with butter and throw them in the oven until they lightly caramelize. Puree with a carton of vegetable broth (or use homemade if you have more time on your hands than I do). Top the soup with a dollop of Greek yogurt (I like Fage 2% the best) and a few pinches of the spice mixture and enjoy! The soup is warm and comforting on it's own, but the addition of the yogurt and spices really adds something special. Serve it with a crusty baguette for an easy weeknight meal or the beginning of an elegant dinner party. Leave me a comment if you try it and let me know how you like it! You can find the recipe here.