Purple Carrot Velouté

The purple carrot velouté is a colorful and nutritious variant of the more classic carrot velouté. If you want to stay true to the Italian tradition, I would suggest pairing the purple carrots with Mediterranean ingredients for a personal and tasty touch.

Ingredients

• 500 g of purple carrots
• 1 medium potato
• 1 white onion
• 500 ml of vegetable broth
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh thyme (optional)
• A pinch of ground ginger (optional for a spicy touch)
• grated Parmesan cheese for garnish (optional)

Preparation

1. Start by cleaning and cutting the purple carrots and potato into pieces. Chop the onion finely.
2. In a large pot, sauté the onion in a stream of extra virgin olive oil until it becomes transparent.
3. Add the carrots and potato to the pot and let them flavor for a few minutes.
4. Pour the vegetable broth into the pot until completely covering the vegetables. If you wish, add thyme and ginger for flavoring.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it cook with the lid on for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
6. Once the vegetables are cooked, blend everything with an immersion blender until you have a smooth and homogeneous cream. Adjust salt and pepper to your liking.
7. Serve the velouté hot, garnishing with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese, if you desire.

Curiosity

Purple carrots are not just beautiful to look at, but they are also very healthy. They are rich in anthocyanins, the same pigments found in berries, which have powerful antioxidant properties. This type of carrot was very common before the orange carrot became the most widely spread variety in the world. Integrating them into the velouté not only enriches its taste but also its nutritional value.