I think my favourite thing about living in San Francisco is all of the different little neighbourhoods. The city itself isn’t large—”7 x 7″, as it’s often dubbed, or about 50 square miles. New York, on the other hand, is 6 times that. San Francisco’s diverse areas, though, make it seem bigger than it really is.

This past weekend, my plan was to go to a reuse store to get some more backgrounds and materials for photography, but it turned out to be closed Sundays. Instead, I walked to the Marina district.

I visited the Marina on my first full day in San Francisco, when I was living in Seattle and flew down for Thanksgiving to visit a friend. They had work on Friday, but I had Google Maps and a sense of adventure. The day started at early at Tartine, with a little white cardboard box of bread pudding eagerly consumed atop Dolores Park. The rest of the morning was spent wandering; up through the Mission to Nob Hill and through Japantown.

San Francisco is known for its hills, and the climb from Japantown through Pacific Heights to the Marina had me desperately craving a good sandwich. Hoagie in hand, I took a left at the nearest street going down to the water, not really wanting anything except a nice bench.

Instead, there was the Golden Gate Bridge. Huge. Red.

Having been here for a while now, I know that that sight is something of a rare one; it’s normally shrouded in fog and not visible from the Marina, but  I guess I got lucky that day and I fell a little bit in love with San Francisco.

Anyway, this soup. THIS SOUP. It’s a little more orange the the Golden Gate, but you’ll fall in love just the same. Savoury cashew ricotta dumplings, creamy spiced carrot…it’s magic in a bowl. Enjoy this heavenly soup tonight! It reheats great, so feel free to double the recipe for double the delicousness tomorrow!

Curried Carrot Soup with Cashew Ricotta Dumplings

 

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Author: noctekana@gmail.com

Serves: serves 3

Ingredients

soup

• 1 lb carrots, chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1½ Tbsp olive oil
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 2 bay leaves
• salt, pepper to taste

dumplings

• ¾ cup raw cashews
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1½ tsp lemon juice
• ⅓ cup rolled oats
• ⅓ cup + 1 Tbsp oat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 Tbsp butter or Earth Balance
• ¼ tsp chopped fresh thyme

Instructions

1. Soak cashews in warm water for 30 minutes while you prepare the soup.
2. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots and onion and cook for 10 minutes. Add vegetable stock, curry powder, bay leaves, and a palmfull of black pepper. Let simmer for 15 minutes, or until carrots are soft. Puree soup in a blender and return to the saucepan.
3. Make the dumplings: Drain the cashews and place in a food processor with salt and lemon juice. Whiz until grainy, ricotta-like texture is formed. Add rolled oats and pulse several times until oats are a little broken up.
4. Empty ricotta mixture into a bowl and stir in oat flour, baking powder, and thyme. Using your fingers, work in the butter (or substitute). Form into 12-14 small balls, about ¾ of an inch in diameter.
5. Drop dumpling dough balls into the soup, leaving space between them. Cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, until dumplings have doubled in size.
6. Carefully ladle dumplings into bowls and pour over soup. Enjoy with a few good grinds of black pepper.

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