Make the soup: Peel and roughly chop the carrots. Bring half a litre of lightly salted water to the boil in a deep pan, add the carrots, then cook for fifteen minutes or so, till tender. Put the carrots and their liquid into a blender with the coriander and butter and process to a smooth puree.

Peel and finely chop the shallot and garlic. Warm the olive oil in a deep-sided frying pan, add the shallot and garlic, then let it cook over a moderate flame for about three or four minutes till fragrant, then add the rice. Ladle in the stock, a little at a time, stirring almost constantly. Continue cooking for fifteen to twenty minutes until the stock has been absorbed and the rice is tender but not soft.

Stir the pureed carrots into the rice and simmer for five minutes, then add ground black pepper and salt. Peel and very finely dice the remaining carrot. Warm the remaining olive oil in a pan and add the carrot. Cook for three or four minutes till the carrot is approaching tenderness. Finely chop the coriander, then spoon the soup into dishes or plates and scatter over the diced carrots and coriander.

From Greenfeast: Autumn, Winter, by Nigel Slater, published by 4th Estate Books. Photographs: Jonathan Lovekin