🥘 Carole’s parsnip and pear soup…

Ingredients:

For the roasted parsnip and pears

• 500g parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium sized pear, peeled, cored and quartered
• Olive oil, salt and pepper
• 15g butter

For the soup

• 1 stick of celery, diced
• 50g onion, diced
• 1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 80ml cup single cream
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

For garnish

• Chopped pistachios
• chopped parsley or thyme

Step by step:

1. Preheat your oven to 210C. (180C fan) Peel the parsnips. and chop them all into similar size pieces. This will mean they cook evenly. Start by cutting the parsnips in half across the middle. Quarter the thicker top parts of the parsnip, the bottom parts will only need halving if they are quite thick.

2. Scatter the parsnips over a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes.

3. Peel, core and quarter your pears

4. After 15 minutes, turn the parsnips over, add the pears and roast for another 15 minutes, until the parsnips are tender. Be careful to get the parsnips lightly golden but not burnt. Remove any smaller pieces a few minutes earlier if needs be. Set the cooked parsnips and pears aside in a bowl. Reserve a few pieces to use as garnish if you like.

5. In a large pot, melt the butter with a glug of oil over medium heat. Add the chopped celery and onion and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes or until the onion is tender. Add the stock, bay leaf, dried thyme and the roasted parsnips and pears. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20-30 minutes stirring occasionally.

6. Using an stick blender, puree the soup until smooth. Add the cream and stir to combine.

7. Check the seasoning, add more salt and pepper to taste.

8. Serve the soup garnished with the chopped pistachios and some finely chopped cooked parsnip and pear if you like.

Tips:

I always go for young, smaller parsnips, they are tastier and require less chopping. You will need to vary your cooking times depending on the size of your parsnips.

Variations include chopped walnuts, crumbled goats cheese and chopped crispy bacon. Use Crème Fraîche, or milk if you prefer.

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