August 28, 2009 - 13:25 BST hellomagazine.com Carrot soup with toasted hazelnuts and pink grapefruit GALLERY Ingredients (Serves 2) 500g organic carrots 100g unsalted butter 1 star anise 5g salt 1 peeled clove of garlic 500ml water Garnish ½ pink grapefruit 10g hazelnuts 30ml groundnut oil or vegetable oil 10g pitted green olives 5 leaves of tarragon chopped 5 leaves of coriander chopped or coriander microcress Method Peel the carrots. Slice them into even sized pieces. Heat a pan and add the butter and when it starts to bubble add the carrots, garlic, star anise and salt. Place a lid on the pan and allow the carrots to soften. When they begin to soften, add the water and bring it up to the boil; simmer until the carrots are completely cooked. Remove the star anise. Take the carrots and the liquid and place in a blender, taking care not to fill it too much. Blitz the soup until smooth. Remove from the jug and allow to cool. For the garnish, warm the groundnut oil in a pan over a medium heat and toast the hazels until they go golden. Tip them out on to a plate to cool down and reserve the oil. Once the nuts are cold take a rolling pin and hit each nut once just to crush it a little bit. Cut each olive in 8 pieces. Skin the grapefruit and remove four segments. Dice into five pieces. Serve the soup at room temperature. Pour into a bowl and top with the garnishes; finish by adding the herbs and a little of the oil you kept from the hazelnuts.
