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Lasopy
Lasopy: Antananarivo's thick blended soup of carrot, leek, potato and turnip, made with water
Highland evenings in Antananarivo can turn surprisingly cold, and that is when lasopy comes out, a smooth, pale-orange soup of carrot, leek, potato, turnip and green beans blended until velvety. Market cooks and grandmothers usually simmer it with beef bones; this version keeps it fully vegetarian, with the vegetables browned lightly first and a bay leaf and thyme for depth, so the water turns into a sweet, savoury broth on its own. It is often eaten with a handful of thin vermicelli cooked in it, or simply with bread, and a dab of sakay stirred in at the table. Leave the vegetables in big chunks: chopping them tiny makes them boil to mush before the flavour comes out. Chef's tip: hold back a ladle of cooking liquid and blend the rest, then thin to taste, because once lasopy is too watery there is no fixing it.
- Total time
- 60 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 onionroughly chopped
- 2 leekstrimmed, washed and sliced
- 3 garlic clovessliced
- 4 carrotspeeled, cut into 3 cm chunks
- 14 oz potatoesfloury, peeled, cut into 4 cm chunks
- 1 turnippeeled, cut into chunks
- 3 ½ oz green beanscut into short lengths
- 1 tomatochopped
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 6 ¼ cups water or vegetable stockif using stock, check the label is gluten free and vegan
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
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What you'll need
Spices & pantry
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Heat 2 tbsp sunflower oil in a large pot over a medium heat and cook 1 onion and 2 leeks until soft and just starting to colour at the edges.
7 minStep 2: Add 3 garlic cloves, 4 carrots and 1 turnip and cook, stirring, until the carrots have a little colour.
5 minStep 3: Add 14 oz potatoes, 3 ½ oz green beans, 1 tomato, 1 bay leaf and ½ tsp dried thyme, then pour in 6 ¼ cups water or vegetable stock and add 1 ½ tsp salt.
1 minStep 4: Bring to the boil, then turn down to a steady simmer, partly covered, until a knife slides through the potato and carrot with no resistance.
25 minStep 5: Fish out 1 bay leaf. Ladle about 250 ml of the liquid into a jug and set it aside.
Step 6: Blend the soup until completely smooth, with a stick blender in the pot or in batches in a jug blender (leave the lid vent open so steam can escape).
Step 7: Return to a low heat, add back as much of the reserved liquid as you like for a pouring consistency, season with ½ tsp ground black pepper and more salt to taste, and serve hot with bread and sakay.
3 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 140 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 25 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does lasopy take?
- About 60 minutes in total: 20 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of leeks?
- 1 onion per leek.
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