Carrot Ginger Soup

When I decided to replicate some of our favorite dishes from our trip the Central Europe this summer for our Thanksgiving dinner, I knew I wanted to make the carrot ginger soup that Jake had at Ludwig und Adele in Vienna before we went to the opera. The only thing: he didn't like all of the parsley. The rest of us do like parsley, so only Jake's didn't include the herb.

Here's the soup I was recreating...

Mine was thicker and had more ginger. We all enjoyed it.

Ingredients

• 1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced

• 1 fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds

• olive oil

• 6 to 8 carrots, cut into thick coins

• 6 cups chicken stock

• 2-inch knob fresh ginger, halved

• 1 Tablespoon ginger syrup

• 1/2 cup heavy cream plus more for garnish

• freshly ground pepper

• freshly ground salt

• ground smoked paprika

• chopped parsley for garnish, optional

Procedure

Sauté leeks and fennel in a splash of olive oil in a large soup pot. Add in the carrots, fresh ginger, and fennel seeds. Pour in the stock. Bring to a boil and cover. Simmer the carrots are tender, approximately 20 minutes. Add the ginger syrup and heavy cream. Simmer for another 15 minutes. In batches, purée the soup in a blender until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and season to taste. To serve, garnish with a swirl of heavy cream and some chopped parsley.