Græskarsuppe (Vaughn's New-fangled Interpretation of it)
It’s so funny how gourmands and wanna-be chefs with their self-aggrandizing cookbooks, cookware and TV talk shows push the notion of using the finest quality ingredients and the most expensive tools to get the best meal possible. These positions couldn’t be further from the truth.
I’ve developed a really fantastic carrot soup on the cheap. This is a soup I discovered when I wanted a butternut squash and pumpkin soup. A wonderful soup I discovered while dining at Restaurant Els in Copenhagen, Denmark. This soup was so good that I would regularly go into Restaurant Els just to eat the soup as my plat principal. The owner and I were on first-name basis. I would walk in and it would be straight out of Cheers, but instead of “NORM!” you’d hear “Vaughn, Græskarsuppe!!!”. Yes, I’d pay 100 Danish Kroner, or $22 USD a pop for this dish. It is fantastic! When it is in season, it is fantastic! Did I mention it was fantastic?
So the story around my newly discovered soup is that I was trying to replicate my favorite Græskarsuppe from the Restaurant Els in Copenhagen. I had this craving around 7:30 at night at my house back in Ashburn, VA for the soup. So, being kind of lazy, I didn’t want to go up to the grocery store and I didn’t have any butternut squash or pumpkin. What I did have was an onion and a 2 lb bag of baby carrots. I was thinking to myself, “ummm, the carrots are orange and they’re vegetables , that’ll work!” So I preceded to dice the onions and caramelize them with a little bit of olive oil and butter in a boiler. I added a teaspoon of cinnamon, 4 tablespoons of pepper, 2 teaspoons of salt and some chili powder. I then added water halfway up the boiler (roughly 8 cups of water) and preceded to boil them until they were seriously mushy. I boiled them for 45 minutes and then simmered for another 45 minutes.
Restaurant Els, Købnhavn, Danmark
I then took a hand blender and blended the entire soup until fine. It is a very thick and hearty soup. A dash of chili flakes and some truffle oil topped it off. I served it with a little bit of garlic bread. I calculated the cost last week when I went to do the same again. It was $2.50 for the 2 lb. bag of carrots and 75 cents for the onion. So I spent roughly $3.25 for 6 servings of soup that if I was at my favorite restaurant would have cost me roughly $130 USD. So, you don’t need expensive tools, I used a plastic spatula, a $5 boiler pot and a little ingenuity. Everybody that I have served this to has wanted seconds and thirds.
Here is my recipe:
Recipe: Vaughn’s Græskarsuppe (Danish Carrot Soup)
Ingredients
-
- 1 Yellow Onion
- 2 lbs Baby Carrots
- 8 cups water
- 4 tablespoons pepper
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Black Truffle Oil
- Chili Pepper flakes
Instructions
-
- Begin by caramelizing diced onion in boiling/soup pot. Add olive oil and butter to prevent burning.
- Once Onion is caramelized add carrots, water, pepper cinnamon and salt
- Boil for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning
- Repeat previous step, except simmer for 45 minutes instead of boil
- When carrots start to fall apart by piercing fork, start blending in pot with a hand mixer.
- Let cook for an additional 10 minutes on moderate heat
- Serve in bowls. Dash with truffle oil and chili pepper flakes and enjoy!
Quick Notes
You could use butternut squash or pumpkin with this, but why? This is inexpensive and it is certainly a budget buster!
Cooking time (duration): 90
Diet type: Vegetarian
Diet (other): Low calorie, Reduced fat, Reduced carbohydrate, Gluten free, Raw
Dietary restriction: Kosher
Number of servings (yield): 6
Meal type: dinner
Culinary tradition: French
My rating:
