Dark Days Challenge: Creamy Parsnip Soup
When the Unicyclist and I have special events to celebrate, our restaurant of choice is Tarbell’s here in Phoenix. The food is superb–the ingredients are painstakingly sourced (mostly organic and local), the dishes prepared with care, and the presentation is beautiful. Last year, probably around this time, we had an amazing parsnip soup there, which inspired this attempt for the Dark Days Challenge. Although it wasn’t quite as good as Tarbell’s (I haven’t found any place yet that is, not even my kitchen), it was quite good. Best of all, it’s simple, with only a few ingredients. Give this a try before parsnips are out of season!
Roasted Parsnip Soup
Ingredients (makes 8-10 servings)
1 large onion, chopped
2 lbs parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2” pieces
2″ piece of celery, without leaves, minced
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced
2 cups milk
5-6 T unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup white wine or 2 tsp agave nectar with 1 tsp white wine vinegar, plus water to make 1/4 cup
mild vegetable oil, such as grapeseed
1 fresh lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat oven to 325. Toss the parsnips in just enough oil to coat, then sprinkle with salt and toss again. Roast in the preheated oven until carmelized, about 25-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, put a small splash of oil in a large skillet or soup pot over medium heat, then add the onion, celery, and a pinch of salt. Cook gently until soft, but not browned.
When the parsnips are done, add them to the onions and celery and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Add the wine or agave mixture, up the heat, and cook off with a low boil. Add the potatoes and milk. If the liquid does not cover the vegetables, add water or a mixture of water and milk until they are just covered.
Let the soup simmer over low heat until all the vegetables are soft. Transfer the hot soup into a blender or food processor and puree, adding cubes of butter one at a time and more water if the soup is too thick.
Season to taste with fresh lemon juice, salt, and fresh ground pepper.
We enjoyed our soup with fresh bread and sauteed bitter greens, which complemented the sweet nuttiness of the soup very well. It’s a wonderfully comforting soup for these last cold, gray days before spring comes. Guten Apetit!
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I have parsnips sitting and waiting for some creative use – which I’ve been unable to provide, it seems. Its been roasted veg for the large part with those. And while delicious, this soup sounds like a much better way to use up the last of this year’s batch. Would you think it would work if I omitted the butter? Or is there a substitute? (I can’t have butter given health issues).
You know, the butter is totally over the top. It’s delicious, mind you, but it’s a LOT of butter. I think you could use a few T of maybe olive oil (more like 2-3–not too much, or it will taste distinctively olivey, unlike the nutty sweetness you want), or maybe just a little extra milk or cream. Enjoy!
[...] to recreate a special meal from a special restaurant, Laurel made a simple creamy parsnip soup. If you’ve got a few still languishing in the fridge or cellar, this sounds like an excellent [...]