Thai Carrot and Coconut Soup (Vegan)

Soup. Boring, bland, basic, right? Wrong! A good soup is like a warm hug - it soothes the soul and makes you feel great!

This recipe is inspired by one from Chrissy Teigen's cookbook and if she can't make you love soup, who can!? This soup is the perfect mixture of sweetness and heat - carrots, caramelised onions and the sugar in the sweet chilli sauce combined with the warmth from lemongrass, ginger and chilli - delicious! The coconut milk adds a luxurious texture as well as a little richness and it means this dish can be vegan if you use vegetable stock.

Thai Carrot and Coconut Soup

Serves 4-6

1 tbsp oil

1 onion, diced

2 stalks lemongrass, finely chopped

15g ginger, finely chopped

1 tsp dried chilli flakes

750g carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

500ml chicken or vegetable stock

400ml tin coconut milk

2 tbsp Thai sweet chilli sauce

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or casserole over a medium heat. Add the onion, lemongrass, ginger and chilli flakes along with a good pinch of salt. Stir them cover with a lid and leave to soften for 5 minutes.

Add the carrots to the pan, season with salt and pepper and then cook, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are softened. This should take about 20 minutes. Add the stock and coconut milk, increase the heat to bring to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer and leave to cook for 40 minutes.

Stir in the sweet chilli sauce, remove from heat, and let cool slightly. Blend the soup using a stick (immersion) blender, or transfer it carefully to a stand blender and puree until smooth. Taste it and add more salt and pepper if needed then serve.