Snowy day, fire going in the living room, boys playing happily, and a delicious soup warming on the stove for dinner. I have a moment to talk to you about the parsnip, a veggie I think I highly underrated. “White carrots” as my kiddos call them are root veggies that are related to carrots and parsley. They are sweet and creamy, high in vitamins and minerals, and also contain antioxidants. Love them. Roast them up and you’ll love them, too!
- 1 pound of parsnips
- 1-2 carrots
- 1 Tablespoon of butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 1teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 4-5 cups chicken stock
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Peel and chop veggies and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper
- Roast the veggies in a 425 degree oven for about 30 minutes until toasty brown
- Transfer the veggies to a soup pot and add all of the spices to the pot, cook 3-4 minutes to toast the spices
- Pour in the stock and simmer until veggies are very tender
- Using an immersion blender, blend until very smooth and velvety
- Stir in the milk and heavy cream and bring to a simmer
- Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper
This soup is all about seasonal flavors, wintery, thick and filling. It starts by roasting the veggies to get the most flavor out of the root. I chose to use a whole bag of parsnips, an onion, two turnips, 4 cloves of garlic and a yellow carrot.
I peeled and chopped all of them and tossed them on a cookie sheet with some oil, salt and pepper. Roast them in the oven and look to see they have that beautiful caramelized brown color before you start the soup itself.
Put them in your soup pot (no liquid yet) and add the spices to toast them up too. I was a little surprised about the spice choices but anxious to see what this would all come out tasting like. So, into the pot went brown sugar, ground ginger, ground cardamom, ground allspice, ground nutmeg, and cayenne pepper.
Add in your stock and let all of this come up to a simmer making sure the veggies and very soft before you turn off you heat. The softer the better since this is a creamy soup which will be blended in the end. When the veggies are all set take out your immersion blender and blend right in the pot or purée in batches in your blender.
To finish the soup, giving it a velvety texture you add milk and heavy cream. At to this point check you soup for seasoning and adjust as needed. I suggest serving it with a crusty bread, a great vehicle for getting the last bit of goodness out of the bottom of the bowl. Enjoy!