Moroccan carrot soup

I make chicken stock when we have roast chicken at weekends, and use it to make either a midweek risotto or soup. This week’s soup was a big hit and I pass on the recipe here. It was originally in a collection that Allegra McEvedy did for The Guardian (serves 6).

Toast half a teaspoon of cumin seeds and crush. Chop about 750g carrots and sweat in 30g butter for 15 mins. Cook 80g rice and drain. Cover cooked carrots with 1.2 litres chicken stock and 250 ml milk, and simmer.

Blend soup, but keep a rough consistency. Put back into the pan, add the rice and cumin, and simmer some more.

Pull off the heat and whisk in two egg yolks, stir in a handful of chopped mint leaves, and sprinkle with paprika before serving. The finishing touches with the egg and the mint are essential in this case and give the soup a delightful texture and taste.

I served this on two nights, by dividing the blended soup into two portions and adding one egg yolk, freshly-chopped mint and paprika just before serving each night.