Winter root veggie soup
This soup is a working meal. Well, I am literally eating it as I work... as JW is watching football. At least that was the idea... as I've finished it before even posting the blog.Unfortunately, this soup may not be re-creatable, exactly. As I don't measure, I also was doing things that probably won't happen again.
For starters, very last vegetable came from the CSA, and it ends this week. I measured the water for broth with a pint glass. And I reused a pot that had been used just prior to the soup for seasoned popcorn. I didn't even wipe the pot out! So, the burnt garlic and herbes de'provence (thyme, basil, fennel, savory) were still flaking the bottom.
This soup idea all started with the celeriac I received in the CSA this week. I have never cooked with celeriac, or celery root, and the thing is UGLY! So, I did the thing every normal late twenty-something would do in 2010... I goggled it. The first thing I found was a story on NPR calling it an "ugly duckling" and stating that it is similar in taste to celery and parsley.Then, I turned to Allrecipes.com, per usual. There were about 6 recipes, and the one that caught my attention was Winter Root Vegetable Soup, 16 reviews and 4.5 stars and almost 3000 saves! It seemed simple enough, roast all the root vegetables you have, add with broth, and puree. I looked at the reviews, to see if there was anything special to omit, add, modify. And it seemed, to each there own.
Below is the original recipe as posted, but I'll add it my modifications, as I can track them. It really doesn't look like I followed the ingredient list at all!
Ingredients
- 3 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces [didn't have these, so added one red skin potato]
- 3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 celery root, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces [as I read online, use a pairing knife and it's easy, don't try a vegetable peeler]
- 2 turnips, quartered [didn't have these]
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces [since I omitted other things, I added 2]
- 1 (2 pound) butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces [didn't have this]
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons butter [since I had a pre-oiled pan, I used about 1 T]
- 1 stalk celery, diced [didn't have this]
- 1/2 sweet onion, diced [I also added about 6 small scallions that needed to be used]
- 1 quart vegetable broth [didn't have this, so I used what turned out to be about 3 pint glasses of water and 5 bouillon cubes]
- 1/2 cup half-and-half cream [based on reviews didn't add this either...]
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- I added the largest clove of garlic ever to the roasted vegetables. Then to the pot, I added cumin, extra black pepper, and a couple pieces of rosemary. I also didn't peel any of the root vegetables... except the onions and celeriac.
Directions
- Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- Combine parsnips, carrots, celery root, turnips, sweet potato, and butternut squash in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Toss vegetables to evenly distribute seasonings.
- Roast in the preheated oven until the vegetables are easily pierced with a fork, 30 to 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Stir in the celery and onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer, uncovered. Stir in the roasted vegetables and continue simmering for 10 minutes. Puree the soup using an immersion blender [didn't have this, so used a blender and only did half, I liked the chunks]. Stir in the half and half, and season with salt and pepper, if necessary. If the soup becomes too thick, add more vegetable broth.
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