On foodbuzz, I found a really hearty and delicious looking cream soup made of root vegetables. As it is getting colder, I found that I was craving the preparation and warmth of a nice soup.
I stuck to the recipe, for the most part. I didn’t want to get a whole pimpking or kabocha, so I got a mini pumpking (winter squash), instead. Also, I used one whole idaho potato and two small red potatoes. I also put a lot salt in there and topped the end off with some 2% milk, as well as the butter. It was all really colorful and I enjoyed handling the variety of ingredients. (Except for cutting the skin of the pumpkin. That sort of sucked. I should have cooked it with the skin initially, like the red pepper. I did nuke it for 1 minute to make the cutting a little easier.)
- 1 mini pumpkin
- 2 red potatoes
- 1 idaho potato
- 1/2 red pepper
- 1 green squash
- 1 parsnip
- 1 turnip
- 1 large carrot
As Alina writes, it’s important to cut the vegetables in the manner described, so that they all heat up to the same consistency. For example, I found that I probably should have heated the vegetables a bit more, since the red pepper and carrots were still hard. The carrots could have been cut smaller.
I barely covered the vegetables, and in the end, I found that even when putting all of the stock back into the soup (once mashed and pureed), it still could have used some additional stock. This is a THICK soup. (I think it also has to do with how much potatoes you use.) I should have covered the the vegetables with another half or quarter of an inch of water.
Once the vegetables were soft, I strained the vegetables (KEEP THE STOCK) and mashed them, then I reheated the vegetable mixture, stirred, and mashed them again. I found that in the end, pureeing the soft mixture was still best, and I pureed in small batches. I returned them to another pot and heated the mixture and slowly ladled the stock into the soup. Stop when you get the consistency you like and if there is any more vegetable stock left, freeze it. That was my plan, but I ended up using all of the vegetable stock, in the end. (And later, adding more water). If you want a thicker soup, use more potatoes and put less stock back in. If you want to thin out the mixture, use more stock.
After heating the mixture, I strained the soup and froze half of it. I tried the puree the rest of the mashed vegetables and added them back into the soup. I wanted a smoother consistency, but you like chunky soup, leave it alone. I splashed some 2% milk in, around half a cup. When the soup starts to bubble, stir in 1-2 tablespoons of butter. Again, if you want creamier soup, you should mix in some cream, also. I didn’t. I took a sprig of thyme and stirred it into the soup and let it bubble some more. Sprinkle some cayenne pepper on top, if you want to add some depth.
I got this awesome multi-grain loaf last night. I just cut that up into little cubes, drizzled olive oil on top, buttered a pan with 2-3 tablespoons of butter, and fried up some croutons. I sprinkled some salt and garlic powder on top. It’s super yummy. Make sure it’s crunch on the outside. It might smoke up a bit.
Voila! Then serve the soup with croutons on top and it’s own sprig of thyme. I would also very much recommend that you sprinkle a pinch of paprika and cayenne pepper on top. It adds an additional spicy smoky flavor.
This was a subtle soup with the sweet notes of carrots and potatoes with the cooler taste of turnips and parsnip. It was really hearty and perfect with a grainy bread and/or garlic croutons. (The garlic made the whole thing complete savory.) It was a lot more work than I imagined, but the return was pretty nice. I don’t always put in this much effort, so it was a nice change. Remember – cover the vegetables with water, cook until ALL the vegetables are ready for mashing, and a food processor helps.
