Recipes

Chilled Carrot Soup with Fines Herbes Mousse

  • Serves

    serves 4

CHRISTOPHER HIRSHEIMER

This intense soup from the French Laundry seems to capture the very essence of fresh carrots.

Ingredients

For the Carrot Soup

  • 3 medium carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut into 1" rounds
  • 2 12 cups fresh carrot juice
  • 1 tsp. butter
  • 1 tsp. honey
  • 1 pinch curry powder
  • 12 cup heavy cream
  • Salt and freshly ground white pepper

For the Herb Mousse

  • 14 cup crème frâiche
  • 1 chive, finely chopped
  • 1 small sprig parsley, minced
  • 1 small sprig chervil, minced
  • 1 small sprig tarragon, minced

Instructions

Step 1

For the soup: Put carrots, 1 1⁄4 cups of the carrot juice, butter, honey, and curry into a medium pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until liquid has evaporated and carrots are very soft, about 1 hour. Add cream, increase heat to medium, and simmer for 3 minutes.

Step 2

Puree carrot mixture and remaining 1 1⁄4 cups carrot juice in the jar of a blender. Pass soup through a fine sieve into a medium bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.

Step 3

For the mousse: Whisk creme fraiche in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold in chives, parsley, chervil, and tarragon.

Step 4

Divide soup between 4 chilled soup bowls and place a spoonful of mousse in center of each bowl on top of soup.

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