I read menus the same way as I read recipe books … like a novel.

When we recently popped into Mugg and Bean for coffee, I noticed that they have a Carrot and Ginger soup on their menu. The ingredients ticked all my ‘to have’ boxes and I decided to try and construct my own version of this soup.

During the R&D process of developing a new recipe, it is sometimes difficult to pen all the ingredients and method down, as a lot of tasting and adjusting takes place. Do your own tweaking of my recipe if you need more or less of a bite.

Ingredients

• 6 Carrots scraped and cut into rounds
• ½ Onion, chopped
• Olive oil
• 2 Knorr Stock Pots (either chicken or vegetable)
• 1 litre boiling water
• 1 t freshly crushed garlic
• 2 t freshly grated ginger
• ½ handful fresh coriander, chopped
• ½ t ground coriander
• ½ t ground cumin
• Zest of ½ an orange
• Juice of the whole orange
• ½ chilli
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

• Fry the onion, garlic and ginger in olive oil in a large pot until soft and translucent.
• Add the chopped coriander, ground coriander, ground cumin, chopped chilli and orange zest.
• Dissolve the stock pots in the boiling water. Add the water, orange juice and carrots to the pot.
• Let it simmer until the carrots are soft.
• Puree soup using a stick or jug blender for a smoother consistency.
• Season to taste