Whether or not you serve a starter at Thanksgiving dinner depends largely on whether you can be arsed, but also on how many guests you are expecting. If you are feeding your entire family, their mates and your next door neighbour, then I personally wouldn’t bother, and perhaps give them a canapé instead (or just tell them to whistle and wait for their dinner, this is an option too!). If however you are holding a smaller gathering, it can be nice to serve a soup which can easily be made in advance and will leave your guests plenty of room for turkey.
Ingredients (serves 4)
500g carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion finely chopped
1 bunch fresh coriander
1 teaspoon of ground coriander finely chopped
25g butter
1ltr vegetable stock
50mls double cream
1 bay leaf
Salt/pepper
Directions
Melt butter in a large saucepan and fry onion and bay leaf on a low heat for 5-10 minutes until browned and softened. Add ground coriander and carrots and stir to coat with onion and butter mixture.
Pour over stock, cover pan with a lid, bring to the boil and simmer for 30mins.
Remove from the heat and blend the soup until smooth in batches. This will prevent you from being sprayed with hot orange goo. If the soup is too thick, add more stock at this stage.
Return soup to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the fresh coriander and cream. You can either serve straight away, or leave to cool then reheat when you want it.
Image via By Alice