I don’t know what it says about me that after 5 years of blogging, I can still find vegetables that I’ve never written about (or cooked with, to be honest about it). I’m afraid it means that I get stuck in a rut, using the same tried and true ingredients over and over again, but when I’m feeling a bit more charitable toward myself, I blame it on the local grocery stores, which don’t get a lot of new-to-me produce, and when they do, it’s often old and sickly-looking from lack of anyone buying it regularly. So a combination of these reasons is how parsnips come to make their first appearance on this blog. Oh, how I wish I’d discovered them sooner!
Parsnips look like white carrots, and you want to buy them when they’re all stiff and cream-colored and pert, not floppy and browning and sad. I found the stiff and happily organic kind recently at the local co-op, and a conversation with one of the produce guys convinced me that I should either (a) roast them or (b) make them into soup. Being the raging non-conformist that I am I decided to do both, simultaneously. Before I pureed the roasted parsnips, though, I took a nibble (or three) and discovered that I loved them straight out of the oven, totally unadorned. I had to press on with my planned parsnip soup, though I’m sure that roasted parsnips will be making another appearance on this blog soon.
And now the bad news: This recipe is not for everyone. Parsnips have a sweet flavor, brought out by roasting, that some people (ahem E) object to in a soup. D and I loved this soup–it grew on D, as his comments went from “interesting” to “good” to “delicious” to “May I finish off the rest of the pot?” The mushrooms add a little earthiness, but if you’re not sure about the sweet, skip this soup and wait for my next parsnip recipe. I promise you won’t have to wait another 5 years.
Roasted Parsnip and Garlic Soup with Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1 pound parsnips , peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 head garlic
- 1 small onion , thinly sliced
- 1 rib celery (including leaves), chopped
- 4-5 cups No-Chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper or to taste (white pepper adds spiciness)
- 1/2 cup great northern beans
- 6-8 ounces mushrooms , stemmed and sliced
- 1 green onion , sliced thin
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Place the parsnip cubes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Cut the top off of the head of garlic, just enough to expose the tops of the cloves. Place it on a square of aluminum foil, spritz it quickly with a 1/2-second spray of olive oil (optional), and wrap it up. Place it on the baking sheet with the parsnips and put it into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, turn over the parsnips, and cook for 10-15 more minutes until parsnips are tender and just touched with brown. Remove from oven and allow the garlic to cool in its wrapper.
- Heat a non-stick saucepan and cook the onion until it’s translucent. Add the celery and cook for a couple minutes more. Add 3 cups of the broth, the parsnips, and the pepper. Squeeze the garlic out of the cloves into the pan. Cook for a few minutes, until parsnips have softened. Add the beans.
- Puree the soup in one of two ways: (1)place it into a blender in one or two batches, being careful not to fill more than half full and adding more broth if necessary (preferred), or (2) use a stick blender and carefully blend right in the pan. The smoother you get it, the better, so a Vita-Mix or other high-powered blender is great here. Return the pureed soup to the pan and warm over low heat. If the soup is too thick, add more broth until it reaches your desired consistency. Keep it covered because it will “erupt” from time to time.
- Cook the sliced mushrooms in a small non-stick skillet until they soften and release their juices. Season them with salt and add the green onion. Stir most of them into the soup, setting some nice-looking ones aside to use as a garnish. Season with salt and white pepper to taste (careful with the white pepper if you don’t like things spicy!)
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Other Bloggers Do Parsnips:
Curried Parsnip Soup from Novel Eats
Parsnip Cake at Veganbaking.net (do not look if you’re on a diet!)
Puréed Roasted Parsnips Recipe at Simply Recipes (veganizable)
Parsnip and wild rice mulligatawny by Allotment 2 Kitchen
Slow Cooker Vegan Lentil Parsnip Soup by Geek, Poet, Housewife, Wannabe
Seasonal Spotlight: Parsnips on The Kitchn
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Eunice
This would be a great alternative for my dilemma in making soups for my sick friend. I’m running out of recipes to use and the creativity in me is dying already. Thanks for sharing this recipe. This would be of great help to me and of course, to the stomach of my friend.
Valorie
You did it again, Susan! Thanks for another delicious soup recipe. Everyone loved this and asked for seconds, even the non-vegan kids. Next time, I’ll have to double the batch! I so appreciate all the work you put in to your recipes and your photos are fantastic. I have confidence that your recipes will turn out and often make things for guests without pre-testing them on my own. So far, it has been 100% success. I always turn to your site first when I am trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Thanks again!
kelsbell
This was SO good! I made it last night, but instead of using the Great Northern Beans I substituted a roasted head of cauliflower – YUM! 🙂
I Be a fooDie
We blogged your parsnip soup recipe today and gave it rave reviews! You can check out our blog at http://www.ibeafoodie.wordpress.com. Thank you so much for providing this recipe!
I Be a fooDie
Dyan
This soup is perfect for a cold winter day, sweet and spicy and thick and warming. It’s also a good way to use up celery leaves. I always end up throwing them away, so I put in all the celery leaves I had and added extra celery as well. Next time I’m going to make twice as many parsnips and eat half by themselves after baking. I had no idea they would be so tasty plain!
Anne
I roasted parsnips for the first time last night and absolutely loved them! Thanks for this recipe, definitely going to try it. As a new fat-free vegan, I really appreciate your blog.
Susan Voisin
Thanks, Anne! I hope you enjoy the soup!
Anne
p.s. the printer button works great!
Josephine Royle
I love anything with parsnips- and I love soup all year round-can’t wait to try this!
NottinghamKate
Gorgeous! The first of the seasons parsnips came this week in my veg box so I guess I’ll be getting them for a while now. This is a fabulous way to use them up – and those beans that I overcooked in the pressure cooker!
Thanks again Susan.
Peggy Smith
I made a batch of your Roasted Parsnip and Garlic Soup with Mushrooms. Our Farmer’s Market has carried boxes of hand-picked wild mushrooms the last couple of weeks and I’ve been looking for inspired ways of eating them (although just plain is fine with me too). Parsnips are also in season. Loved the soup. It did justice to my field-picked mushrooms. Thanks!
Diane
Mmmmm, parsnips! My German-immigrant grandmother grew tons of these and her favorite way of serving them was to slice them, boil until just barely soft, then fry in a cast-iron pan in just a smidge of butter until the inside of each slice was creamy soft and the outside was browned and crispy on top and bottom. When we visited in fall and winter, she always served them for at least one meal and sent a few pounds home with us. After she moved off the farm, we couldn’t find any parsnips for years. They’ve just started showing up in our local stores in the last five years and, like you, I’ve discovered they also taste wonderful roasted, either alone or as part of a root vegetable mixture.
Never thought of using them in soup, though, and I’m with D, it had to grow on my a bit, but it’s delicious!
kim baker
I made this tonight! Another Excellent recipe I must say. I can’t wait to make the next offering!
Thanks , Susan!
andi
Beautiful, healthy recipe. Just made it for the first time, and will be making it again!
I followed the directions exactly. However, I used canned beans, and at the end, added the unused beans (what was left after pureeing 1/2 cup) to the soup without pureeing them. The recipe is great as is, but I like a little something extra to chew and wanted to make sure I didn’t waste the extra 🙂
Kate
Here in the UK Parsnips are a ubiquitous Winter vegetable. They are usually roasted in butter (by non Vegans!) or used in stews BUT they are delicious steamed. Try them in a vegan bowl…I like them with a Yasai Katsu style curry sauce and some Kale.
I’m trying this recipe out today as it’s very misty out and it seems an good Autumnal day for soup.
Julia
Hi. A classic use of parsnips here in NZ is to boil/steam them with carrots and mash the two veggies together. Traditionally this is done with butter, but I’m sure there’s a vegan way to approach it!
Looking forward to trying this soup.