Creamy Carrot Soup with Parsley Almond Pesto

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A simply delicious, creamy carrot soup topped with parsley almond pesto. No milk or cream.

How do you make creamy carrot soup without using a ton of milk or cream? 

The secret is to use a blender — either a handheld immersion blender or countertop blender makes a creamy puree that’s so satisfying to eat, and tastes like the essence of carrot.

All you need is a handful of everyday ingredients to make a tasty carrot soup. 

Aside from the carrots, a tasty soup can be made with just onion, celery and water.

Do carrots need to be peeled before cooking?

Did your mother (or someone else who presumably cared about your well being) ever tell you that peeling a carrot takes away all its vitamins?

It’s one of those things that gets stuck in your head for the rest of your life.

Those whose job it was to see that you grew up with all body parts intact did their best to point out every which way you could inflict damage, wreaking havoc on not only yourself, but others, too. You know:

• Don’t run across the room with that sharp pencil or you’ll put someone’s eye out!
• You’re going to fall off that tree/roof/high-up-dangerous place on top of the swing set and crack your head open!
• If you sit so close to the TV in this dark room YOU”LL GO BLIND!

Oh, there was something about Vitamin C — not enough and you’d become riddled with scurvy and toothlessness.

Other than that my takeaway from the old-school nutritional wisdom remains: All the Vitamins Are In the Skin.

In fact, peeling carrots has absolutely little effect on the nutrients contained therein.

Not only that, but most of the valuable vitamins, minerals and beta carotene in carrots is best absorbed from cooked carrots, not raw ones.

Is carrot soup good for you?

But it turns out that some of the best stuff in carrots, like the beta carotene, is in there all the way through, peel or no peel.

Lots of vitamins, antioxidants and magical cells live in the colorful parts of fruits and vegetables, and if the food is the same color inside without its skin, no harm done.

I peel carrots when they have an abundance of stiff, old root hairs and tiny clods of dirt. Who wants to eat that??

Plus they look brighter and prettier without the skin.

Fresh baby carrot bunches with their green tops on don’t usually have that problem.

Ultimately, it won’t make much difference if the skin is on or off the carrots in this soup recipe since they get pureed in the end.

It’s your call, and either way you’ll end up with a pot of wholesome, delicious and nutritious carrot soup.

What seasonings are good in carrot soup?

Vegetable Literacy, a must-have cookbook for veggie lovers and cooks, dedicates a whole chapter to The Carrot Family, whose members include:

• Carrots
• Celery
• Fennel
• Parsley
• Dill
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Cilantro 

Because they’re all in the umbellifer family, it’s not surprising that these related plants taste good together — they interlock like pieces of a flavor puzzle.

If you’ve ever wondered what herbs and spices are good to use with carrots, you won’t go wrong when you choosing from this list.

The pesto recipe here includes fennel seed and parsley, but it will also be delicious with a mixture of cilantro and parsley.

More healthy carrot recipes:

• Spice Roasted Carrots with Whipped Red Pepper Feta
• Roasted Cumin Lime Carrots
• Orange Roasted Carrots with Yogurt and Dukkah

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