Spiced Roast Parsnip & Pumpkin Soup w Parsnip Crisps & Caramelised Roast Pear

 


This week the weather here in Sydney has really snapped. The wind is chilly, the sun doesn't seem to have the heat it did just a few weeks ago..and as if to confirm that winter is well on its way my veggie box this week was full of Parsnip.

So to warm myself up and make the best of a change i don't at all like, i decided to make a comforting warming soup. I had originally planned on making an apple and parsnip soup with a red cabbage chutney...but cabbage isn't anywhere near my favourite vegetable...in fact it's right down the other end of the spectrum. Alas I cut the cabbage, I put the olive oil in the pot... and at the last moment i aborted. Cabbage isn't my dream ingredient, and i had to listen to my tummy... I am glad i did.
Caramelized roast pear really outshone what red cabbage might have been!

This soup recipe is quick and easy. Roasting the veg keeps them nice and sweet and keeps the nutrients unlike boiling in which the folate, vitamins and some antioxidants can be lost into the water. I keep the skin on the veg as much of the flavour and nutrients are in the skin. I also roast the veg wrapped in foil with no or only a very slight amount of oil rubbed onto them.

serves 4
Ingredients

5 Parsnip washed and topped
1/3 a Pumpkin cut into wedges
1 spanish onion cut in half
4/5 cloves garlic in skin
1 generous pinch saffron threads
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 nutmeg shaved/grated
2 tsp cumin
1tbs extra virgin olive oil
2 pears, peeled
2 tbs rapadura  (or coconut sugar or brown sugar)
1L stock (i used vegetable stock)
s & p

Method

Pre-heat oven to 200degrees
Wash and Cut Parsnip in half cross ways.
Take the top half of 1 of the parsnip and cut VERY thinly using a mandolin or vegetable peeler. 1.5 to 2mm thickness is good.
Coat the shavings with extra virgin olive oil and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.
    
Wrap veg in foil. I put 2 thick top pieces of parsnip together in foil and bunched the small skinny ends together wrapped up.
Wrap the Garlic together in foil.
Wrap each half of the onion separately in foil.
Wrap the pumpkin wedges singularly in foil.
Place a pear in foil and sprinkle evenly all over with the rapadura (or sugar), wrap in the foil. repeat with other pear.
Place all in the oven on a backing tray (or directly on the oven rack if you wrapped them well enough)
Check after 20mins and regularly afterwards, removing any veg which is soft and cooked through.

Once the vegetables are all cooked, place the tray of parsnip shavings into the oven.
Check regularly and turn if necessary.
Remove from oven once golden.

Once the veg is all cooked carefully open the foil parcels and cut the skin off the pumpkin (i love to eat the skins while i am cooking, delish and good for you!)
Place a pot on the stove on medium heat
Add olive oil
Add the garlic squeezing the soft roast garlic out of the skins into the pot
Add the onion, the pumpkin wedges and the parsnips
Stir breaking up the vegetables as you do
Add half the saffron & most but not all of the cumin, cinnamon, & nutmeg.
Keep stirring and breaking down the chunks for a few minutes.
Remove from stove and add 2 cups of stock.

Carefully take a stick blender and puree the soup adding more stock and blending until a smooth consistency is reached. (The amount of stock depends on your own preference. I used only 600ml as i wanted a nice thick hearty soup. the remaining stock can come in handy when re-heating the soup the next day as the soup will thicken on sitting.)
Taste the soup and add the remaining cumin, cinnamon, and or nutmeg to suit your taste. Season with salt and pepper.
Place back on the stove and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Ladle into bowls, take the pears and slice place a few slices into each bowl a sprinkling of parsnip crisps and a sprinkle of saffron threads (optional)

enjoy the warmth!

x Ba

Asian pumpkin soup

 

I love pumpkin soup, this is my favourite variation. I used laksa paste this time but red curry paste or green curry paste also work well.

Ingredients
* 1/4 chopped pumpkin (2cm cubes)
* 1/2 Spanish onion diced
* 2 tsp ground coriander
* 2 tsp ground cumin
* 3 tbsp curry paste
* 1 or 2 tsp palm sugar
* fresh chilies to taste
* 1 tsp garlic
* water
* 1/2 can Coconut milk
* 1 tbs oil
* 1/2 bunch coriander -roots finely chopped and leaves picked and roughly chopped
* 1 apple

Sauté the onion and garlic with oil, add spices and curry paste and coriander roots (and chilli if using) and stir 

add pumpkin and stir.

Add water to cover and set to a high simmer until pumpkin is soft. Add extra water if required as the pumpkin is cooking

Once soft blitz the soup with a Bamix until smooth

Add 1tspn palm sugar and half the coconut milk. taste and add more sugar, coconut milk and or water to suit your personal preference

Lastly, grate one apple into the soup. Stir and serve garnished with lots of coriander, sprinkled with dukka if you like or with a splash of coconut cream or milk... Or with coriander pesto.

Ba xx

Easy Malaysian Vegetarian Laksa

Vegetarian Laksa inspired and adapted to be vegetarian friendly from a recipe from the Food Safari cookbook.

I have made a beautiful laksa with laksa pasta I made from scratch. It was so delicious. However this is a great alternative, very easy and quick and can become a regular week night meal. I have always found it difficult to find a vegetarian laksa paste. However fairly recently I discovered Charmaine Solomon's Vegetarian Laksa Paste- I was stoked! It can be tricky to get. My local supermarket stocked it and then it disappeared. I have recently found it in Thomas Dux and bought a few of them as I find it is great to have handy for when I feel like a laksa fix.

Ingredients

6-8 schallots roughly chopped

6-8 garlic cloves roughly chopped

Thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1 red chilli roughly chopped

125 mls of water

Rice vermicelli noodles

Egg noodles (I sometimes just use rice vermecelli and pad thai noodles or whichever I have!)

4 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

2 heaped tbsp of Charmaine Solomon's Vegetarian Laksa Paste

2 carrots chopped

1/2 small broccoli

1/4 cauliflower chopped

2 handfulls of small mushrooms, halved or left whole

Bunch of asian greens e.g. bok choy, choy sum, gai lan roughly chopped

1 litre vegetable stock

1 can coconut cream

Fried *tofu puffs or chopped firm tofu

1 tsp sugar

Salt to taste

Juice of 1 lime

Bean sprouts

Spring onions, chopped

Red chilli, sliced

Coriander leaves

Deep fried shallots

Fresh lime wedges

* You can get tofu puffs from Asian grocery stores

Method

1) Place schallots, garlic cloves, ginger and chilli in a food processor, add water gradually and blend until it becomes smooth.

2) Prepare rice noodles by blanching them in boiling water. When softened refresh in a colander under cold water.

3) Heat coconut oil in a large pot and add fresh paste and gently fry for a few minutes Add laksa paste and fry for a couple more minutes before adding the carrot, mushrooms, broccoli and cauliflower.

4) Saute vegetables for a few more minutes until coated in paste and fragrant.

5) Add vegetable stock, bring to the boil and add coconut cream and tofu. Add sugar and salt to taste and the stalks of the asian greens and simmer for a few minutes to bring out flavours. Squeeze in fresh lime and stir through the leaves of the Asian greens.

6) Divide the noodles amongst bowls.

7) Spoon over some vegetables and broth

8) Top with fresh bean spouts, freshly chopped coriander, chopped red chilli and lime wedges to serve.





Spanish Garlic Soup - Sopa de Ajo

Garlic not only has fantastic flavour, it is also loaded with health giving properties. It invigorates the immune system, promotes circulation, eliminates toxins and possesses antibiotic, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties (1). It is great to eat garlic at the onset of a cold as it helps to promote sweating. It can also lower blood pressure and reduce cholesterol levels. Garlic helps to stimulate the Lung Qi (energy), is warming in nature and therefore assists in eliminating ‘cold’ from the body.


Serves 5
The soup can be made ahead of time and be heated up before serving. In fact the longer it is left the richer the soup will become as the flavours develop. **Do not add the eggs until just before serving.**

Soup
1 1/2 heads organic garlic
100 mls olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
4 shallots finely sliced
4 tomatoes diced
2 Litres of vegetable or chicken stock
5 free range eggs (optional)

Croutons
8 slices sourdough bread
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Extra olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Peel all the garlic and place in a large mortar and pestle. Pound until roughly broken up into small pieces. Place garlic in a large saucepan and cover with 100 mls olive oil. Turn the heat to medium and when the oil starts to bubble turn the heat down to the lowest setting and cook, stirring, approx. 5 – 10 minutes. Add the paprika, thyme, bay leaves and shallots and stir for a further 5 minutes or until the shallots have softened. Add the diced tomatoes and cook for 1 minute. Add the stock and bring to the boil, turn down to low heat and simmer with the lid on for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, cut bread into 1 inch cubes and place in a bowl. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste. Place on an oven tray lined with baking paper and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10–15 minutes until crunchy.

Just before serving the soup, while it is simmering, remove the lid and with wooden spoon create a whirlpool. Gently crack an egg into the soup to poach, trying not to break the yolk. Follow with remaining eggs, adding at 30 second intervals, allowing each to cook before adding the next. You may need to turn the heat up slightly as the eggs will cool the temperature of the soup. Serve by ladling soup into each bowl and dividing the eggs between them. Top with croutons and fresh thyme or parsley.


(1) Pitchford, P. (2002). Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition (3rd Edition) North Atlantic Books, USA.