I'm really excited to be sharing this recipe with you all as my first one EVER on the blog! A friend of mine gave me a bag of parsnips about two weeks ago. She bought them because she was curious but came to the conclusion that she wasn't going to use them. So, she gave them to me and told me to find something to make with them. A food challenge? Heck yes I'll take it!
Not only had I never cooked a parsnip, I had never seen or tasted a parsnip before! So this would defnitely be an adventure. I immediately started scouring the Internet for ideas. After finding a few winners, I did what I do and pulled a little from this one and I little from that one and came up with my own fabulous version! Now, I want to share this delicious, beautiful, Healthy recipe with you!
You'll have to forgive me for not taking pics of all of the ingredients before I started chopping. I was a little excited, mmkay? Anyway, here are the things you'll need plus parsnips (duh), an onion, and some apples. Don't hate on the high tech way I store my veggie stock, either. Please.
So, first I chopped up the parsnips, onion, and apples. The apples will cook much faster than the onion and parsnips so you want to cut them into about 1 inch pieces and the others in about 1/4 inch pieces. Believe it or not, this was the most tasking part of this recipe. Exhausting, right? I tossed them, individually, in a bowl with a little EVOO and some kosher salt. Then I lined them up in my roasting pan like this:
Looks yummy, right? Just you wait! Just pop these beauties in the oven at 400*. You'll want to take them out after 30 minutes to take the apples out. I just went ahead and tossed them into my stock pot. Then, stir the onion and parsnips and spread them in your pan. I also threw in three cloves of garlic, just smashed and peeled, for a little extra depth. Plus, who doesn't love roasted garlic? Anyway, put the pan back in the oven for another 30 minutes and go do something. I fought it out with this blog (trying to figure out how this thing works again) and chased the dogs around the house with a topless toddler. Yes, it was a blast. :)
After your timer buzzes, pull you veggies out of the oven and throw them in the stock pot with your apples. They will smell divine. They will look something like this:
Now, just add your stock and your half and half and go crazy with your immersion blender until it's all smooth. I started with 4 cups of stock and just added until I got to my desired consistency, which turned out to be between 5-6 cups. Then just add your spices, and stir:
Turn the stove to med-low and let the flavors get all happy together in the pot! Meanwhile, grab yourself some crushed hazelnuts and toast them up. Yum!
Once the soup is hot, ladle it out into some bowls, sprinkle some of those toasty hazelnuts on top, add a drizzle of EVOO (I would have totally used truffle oil here, if I weren't out, but EVOO did the job this time) and prepare to indulge!
This soup looks like it will be heavy and creamy BUT it's not! It's actually light and wonderful! I might even venture to say that I would eat it chilled in the summer time. We were pleasantly surprised by parsnips and their peppery goodness! I'll definitely make them a fall/winter regular in our kitchen!
1.5lbs parsnips
1 sweet onion
3 medium fuji apples (peeled or not)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled
4+ cups veggie stock (to desired consistency)
1/2 c half and half
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
Kosher salt, to taste
1/4 cup toasted crushed hazelnuts
Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Truffle Oil
Preheat oven to 400 F
Cut apples into thick 1 inch wedges.
Wash and scrub parsnips. You can peel if you want to... but I left the skin on. Slice into thin 1/4 inch slices.
Slice the onion into to 1/4 inch slices.
Line a baking sheet w/ parchment.
Toss apples in a med sized bowl with drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt.
Place on one side of the baking sheet.
Toss Onions with olive oil and salt. place in the middle of the baking sheet.
Toss parsnips with olive oil and salt and place on the far side baking sheet....keeping them separate.
The apples will cook much faster and you want to keep them separate for easy removal. You could use separate baking dishes if you want, but why make more dirty dishes?
Place in the oven and check in 30 minutes. Apples should be very soft, remove them. Mix the onions,parsnips, and garlic and roast for another 25-30 mins until onions are translucent and parsnips are fork tender.
Add parsnips, onion, apples, and garlic to stock pot. Puree with immersion blender until smooth. Add white pepper, cardamom, salt. Let sit on med-low heat until heated through.
Pour into individual bowls and garnish with toasted crushed hazelnuts and a drizzle of EVOO. Enjoy! We did!
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