Here is a way to use any root vegetables that you have to make a delicious and warming winter soup. Roasting the vegetables and caramelising the onions heightens the flavour of this soup. Serve with root vegetable chips made from the recipe included.

Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 parsnips
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 leek
• 1 onion. sliced
• 1 swede
• 2 large potatoes
• 1 Tblsp olive oil and extra for baking the vegetables
• 1 small knob of butter
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 4 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
• 3 cups of good chicken or vegetable stock
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of 1/2 lemon (optional)
• A little cream for serving

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200º C Fan forced
2. Drizzle oil over the bottom of a stainless steel baking dish
3. Peel and chop the parsnips, carrots, potatoes, and swede into 2.5cm cubes
4. Wash the leek well and cut in half lengthwise and then in half again and then in 1.5 cm slices
5. Put the vegetables into the baking dish and drizzle more olive oil and toss to cover the vegetables well with oil
6. Add the cloves of garlic whole with their skins
7. Sprinkle over the chopped rosemary
8. Season well with salt and pepper
9. Drizzle over 1/4 cup of the stock
10. Cover baking dish with foil
11. Bake for 60 minutes or until cooked through well
12. Meanwhile place 1 Tblsp of olive oil and the knob of butter in a saucepan over a medium-low heat
13. Place sliced onion in the saucepan and cook for 8 minutes or until well caramelised
14. When the vegetables are soft and cooked process them, the caramelised onion and the garlic squeezed from the skins in batches a food processor or with an immersion blender or mouli, using some of the stock each time.
15. After each batch remove to a saucepan and keep warm
16. If desired stir in the lemon, check for seasoning and adjust with extra stock if too thick
17. Serve with a little cream and root vegetable chips on top and thick lisces of sourdough bread.

Oven Baked Root Vegetable Chips:

• Using a mandolin slicer, thinly slice parnips, swede, carrots and potato and sweet potato and dry slices well with paper towel.
• Lay the slices on trays lined with baking paper
• Spray with olive oil spray, turn and spray again.
• Bake at 200º C  keeping an eye on the chips until they are cooked (15-30 minutes).

Variation:

Add 1/2 teaspoon of curry powder to the onion to give the soup a spicy flavour

Growing your ingredients:

Growing Carrots

 

 

 

 

 Growing Leeks

 

 

 Growing onions

 

 

 Growing Garlic