Carrot Ginger Soup

First served to me by my dear friend Sharon, founder of the famous Montreal bakery Capucine et Tournesol, and served with a loaf of bread from one of her original organic recipes. I will never forget that lovely snowy spring afternoon.

This soup is velvety smooth, thanks to the leeks and butter. There is no substitute for either.

Serves 4 to six, but not in my house. I always at least double this recipe.

1/4 lb. (1 stick) of butter
1 bunch of leeks, white part only, chopped
1.5 lbs. carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1" piece of ginger, grated
lemon juice, salt, white pepper
toasted chopped almonds, optional

Melt butter in soup pot and add leek. Sauté until soft and translucent, then add garlic. Cook one minute, then stir in carrots and add water to barely cover vegetables. Bring to a boil and simmer 20 minutes or until carrots are very soft. Puree in blender or food processor and return to heat. (Alternately, use an immersion blender to puree vegetables.) Just before serving, add grated ginger and fresh lemon juice, salt and white pepper to taste. Offer optional almonds and yogurt or sour cream on the side.

I have found a product in a very few high-end groceries that I use instead of the ginger root - it is liquid ginger. Very strong and very fresh tasting, it eliminates the strings and sometimes uneven flavors from grating fresh ginger. If you can find ginger paste, this will work too.