I recently bought masses of parsnips that were reduced in my local shop with the intention of turning them into ready-roasted parsnips for the freezer and a batch of soup for cold winter evenings. I followed Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Spicy Parsnip Soup and it turned out really thick and creamy, and absolutely delicious. Here’s the recipe – I suggest you give it a go for a healthy lunch or yummy starter that will impress your guests!
Ingredients: olive oil, knob of butter, 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped, 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped, a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped, 1 tablespoon garam masala, 6 parsnips, peeled and chopped into chunks, 500ml milk, 1 litre vegetable stock, salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan and a dd the onion, garlic, ginger and garam masala. Gently fry until the onions are soft and sweet. Drop in the chopped parsnip and stir together so that everything gets coated in the oil and flavours. Pour in the milk and stock, season and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. After half an hour, check that the parsnips are cooked by sticking a knife in. When cooked, remove them from the heat and blend using a hand blender or liquidizer. Taste the soup to see if it needs more salt or pepper and serve with a sprinkling of paprika or chilli.
