CURRIED ROASTED PARSNIP AND APPLE SOUP

Soups do not come much simpler than this! As i said in the previous post we are eating healthy at present, so much of our food at present is not refined or finished with little goodies like butter. Apple is added to the soup to balance out the sweetness of the roasted Parsnip.


1.2 litres of stock(chicken or veg)
500g Parsnips
1 apple(cored,skin on)
1 medium onion
1 tbsp of medium curry powder
1 tsp of turmeric
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Thyme(garnish with fresh thyme)

Peel and quarter the parsnip,season with salt and pepper, add a little olive oil and roast in a hot oven till cooked through and crispy. Chop one onion and saute over a low heat in a little oil. When the onions are soft and translucent, season, add the apple and saute for three minutes, then the curry powder and turmeric, saute for a further two minutes(add a little stock if to dry). Add stock and parsnips bring to the boil, blend either with a stick blender or food processor.
Garnish with Thyme, serve.

This will make just under 2 litres of soup. We also make this soup with a little potato added, sometimes substituting 100g of the Parsnip.

HEALTHY EATING - SOUPS

A collection of recipes that hopefully i will update regularly. These recipes are not refined, but honest tasty soup recipes that we are currently trying out. In reality you can soup a whole host of different ingredients and more often than not achieve a tasty soup. Some soups will have a base of water opposed to stock, as we are trying to keep this Healthy as possible, while maintaining taste. However what soups do use water, appropriate stock can be replaced and no doubt we will also replace with stock from time to time. The use of water instead of stock, will also appeal to those who need to take a thrifty approach to feeding large families and with good fresh ingredients can allow principle flavours to shine. Please do not be put off by the wording of Healthy in the title, as it does not apply to bland. Most people have a different preference for texture of soups. Some soups will be chunky, some will be purees. If you do use any of these recipes, soup to your preference, if you feel they are good enough to serve to friends or at a dinner party take appropriate measures to pass through a sieve a couple of times for a little refinement and add garnishes at your whim.


ROASTED SWEET POTATO SOUP WITH FENNEL AND ALMOND (V)

600g sweet potato - peeled and cut into large chunks
4 garlic cloves - skin on
1 medium onion - skin on
1 apple - skin on and cored (do not use a mac,pad or phone)
25g flaked almonds, plus extra for garnish
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika - if smoked not at hand do not add a Benson and hedges, normal paprika is fine.
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
600ml of water for thick soup/ increase in 100ml increments if thinner soup desired

Spices

1 tsp of fennel seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
5 peppercorns
1/2 tsp of Maldon or similar sea salt


Pre-heat oven to 200c, peel sweet potato,cutting into thick chunks, place on a roasting tray with garlic and onion,season and drizzle with olive oil. Cook till sweet potato is tender.
While waiting for the roast you have two options either twiddle your thumbs or get on with grounding the spices. You should have chosen option two. If you were clever and chose option two, remove roasted veg from oven, skin garlic and onion, add to a blender alongside cored apple,almonds and smoked paprika. Blend adding water to create your soup. Pour out into a pan and adjust seasoning if desired.

To use as a puree on a fat day, this would go superbly with a nice piece of fatty pork. Of course you do not have to be having a fat day to use as a puree, if using as a puree only add 300ml of water.