One-pan carrot & cumin soup

Sometimes the simplicity of a comforting bowl of soup is all you need. For a velvety texture, and to carry the flavours of warming cumin and star anise here, we’ve used double cream. To make it more of a meal, we’ve paired it with cheesy onion-seed-speckled muffins for dunking.

SERVES 6 PREP 20 mins

COOK 30 mins EASY V ❄

25g butter

2 tbsp cumin seeds, plus extra

to serve

1 onion, finely chopped

1 leek, green part trimmed away,

finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 star anise

600g carrots, chopped

1 litre vegetable stock 100ml double cream

1 Heat the butter in a deep saucepan over a medium heat until just starting to sizzle, then fry the cumin seeds until toasted and crackling.

2 Add the onion, leek, garlic, star anise, carrots and a pinch of salt. Stir to coat. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook gently for 15-20 mins, stirring occasionally until the vegetables have softened in their own steam.

3 Pour over the stock and bring the mixture to a simmer, then continue to cook for 10 mins until the carrots are tender. Spoon 2 tbsp of the cream into a small dish and set aside, then pour the rest into the pan and bring back to the boil. Remove the star anise and use a hand blender to blitz the mixture until smooth and silky. Or, tip into a standard blender in batches and blitz before returning to the pan. For a really smooth soup, push through a sieve into a saucepan.

At this stage, the soup can be cooled completely and chilled for up to three days or frozen for six months. Defrost fully before reheating. Reheat until piping hot over a low heat, then pour into bowls, drizzle with the reserved cream and scatter the extra cumin seeds on top. Serve with the muffins (below), if you like.

GOOD TO KNOW 1 of 5-a-day

PER SERVING 185 kcals • fat 14g • saturates 8g •

carbs 10g • sugars 8g • fibre 5g • protein 3g • salt 0.6g