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This Parsnip and Potato Soup is creamy, slightly sweet, and everything you want in a homemade soup.
HOMEMADE PARSNIP POTATO SOUP
Hello my lovelies! I hope you are having a beautiful and blessed Sunday. I want to hug you all for always coming by here and reading my words, taking in my silliness, and hopefully laughing with me and not at me. 😛
Pictured above are two bowls filled withParsnip and Potato Soup. A warm, silky, chunky, and VERY good soup. Like, lick your bowl to the last drop good. I wish we had taste-o-vision!
I’m totally trying to sell this soup with potatoes and parsnip, but I shouldn’t try so hard. It speaks for itself. It’s delicious!
On another note, I’m totally on a soup kick and it’s all because of that white stuff on the ground – it won’t go away! Don’t worry, I won’t talk about the weather, but you should know that I really want sun. That’s all.
Just a few short days ago, we enjoyed some French Onion Soup, and two days before that we had this Parsnip and Potato Soup – I had to keep us warm, somehow. The thermostat goes only up to 85. Oops. There I go talking about the weather again. Sorry. So, how are you? How are the kids? How’s the weather by you? Is it warm? That’s nice. We’re freezing.
But, even if it’s warm by you, you still need to taste this soup. I mean, you still need to eat your parsnips, right? How often do you eat parsnips? See! Not very often. I knew it! Now you get to have two parsnips all at once!
This soup is so simple and it comes together in like, I dunno, 47 minutes. You chop up a few root vegetables, chiffonade some fresh basil, (chiffonade? I sound like I know what I’m talkin’ about!) pour in some veggie stock, and let the soup go to town! Don’t forget the seasonings – you know, salt ‘n peppa. They kinda add flavor to like everything.
Once your house is filled with a delicious aroma, the soup is nearly done. Next thing is to just reach for your immersion blender and give this soup a couple of spins here and there. I don’t puree all of it – I leave a few chunks for texture. I am big on texture. You can also use a blender. Or not. You don’t have to use either one. You can have this soup in a chunky form. Noone will judge.
ENJOY!
Parsnip and Potato Soup
Katerina | Diethood
This Parsnip and Potato Soup is creamy, slightly sweet, and everything you want in a homemade soup.
2tablespoonschopped fresh basil, or 1 tablespoon dried basil
salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
1bay leaf
4cupslow sodium vegetable broth, or enough to just cover the vegetables - you can also use 2 cans (14.5-ounces each) of vegetable broth
1/2cup2% milk (you can also use half & half or heavy cream), optional
1/4teaspoonchili powder, optional
Instructions
Melt the butter in a large heavy pot and pour in the olive oil.
Add the chopped parsnips, potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, parsley, basil, salt, pepper, and bay leaf.
Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the vegetable broth.
Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
Discard bay leaf.
Remove from heat and use an immersion blender to blend the soup until creamy. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a blender and blend until smooth. This should be done in several batches.
Return soup to pot and, if using, add milk; add in chili powder and stir to combine.
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Cornstarch Slurry is a classic way to add thickness to your soup. Mix 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Add this slurry once the soup begins to boil and stir in.
Soaking cut potatoes in water can help remove excess starch, preventing the soup from becoming too thick. However, if you prefer a thicker soup or if you're short on time, you can skip this step.
As for me, here are the common sense lessons learned:
Once this does happen, you can tone down the sweetness by adding spices like cumin, nutmeg or lemon juice. Deviate from the recipe to reduce sweetness. Instead of adding 4 parsnip to the recipe, reduce the number of parsnip by half.
Milk or Half-and-Half: This is the other magical ingredient that turns your homemade chicken noodle soup into the creamiest soup ever. Use 1 cup of whole milk or 1 cup of half-and-half. If you want to make regular (non-creamy) chicken noodle soup, replace the milk with more chicken broth.
Roux (pronounced roo) is a mixture of equal weights (parts) of flour and fat (usually clarified butter; chicken fat, bacon fat, and margarine are also used) cooked over medium heat and stirred constantly. Roux is the most common thickener for sauces and soups.
Russets or all-purpose baking potatoes are high in starch and low in moisture. In soups, they will soak up the liquid and lose their shape. This makes them the ideal choice for making creamy soups or thickening a runny soup. Try using Russet potatoes to create the perfect Loaded Potato Soup.
First let's talk about why cut potatoes need to be immersed in water to begin with. The reason is to prevent the potatoes exposure to air, which causes dehydration, oxidation, and discoloration. Immersing cut potatoes will also help rinse off excess starch.
Now that your potatoes are perfectly boiled, it's time to add them to your soup base. Whether you have a creamy or chunky potato soup recipe, gently stir the boiled potatoes into your prepared soup mixture and simmer for a few minutes to let the flavors meld together.
Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.
I recommend peeling parsnips before adding them to recipes like this parsnip soup. If you don't peel them, you'll likely be adding a bitter taste to the soup. Why is my parsnip soup bitter? If you leave the peels on the parsnip, it can cause your soup to taste bitter.
I've since read that the skins of parsnips are bitter, so if you find you don't like the taste I'd peel them. Just make sure to scrub them first and remove any weird tough spots. If you're worried about pesticides, then peeling might be a good idea – the peels often retain the most residues.
Stored starches in the parsnip are broken down and converted to sugar, which is why they have that delicious sweetness. This technique is actually the parsnip's defence mechanism against the cold weather because the sugar molecules make the water in the plant cells less likely to freeze.
You can thicken soup by adding flour, cornstarch, or another starchy substitute. For the best results, never add flour or cornstarch directly to your soup. If you do, it will clump up on top. Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool.
Cornstarch is a great option as it is a natural thickening agent, but you'll want to be careful about how much you use. Start with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch whisked together with cold water to create a slurry. Then, gradually add the slurry to the soup, letting it boil for one to two minutes before adding more.
Cornstarch. Cornstarch is a very effective thickener, and a little bit can go a long way. Add cornstarch to a small amount of cold water or other liquid (wine or stock) and whisk into a thick slurry. Then the slurry can be stirred into a simmering soup, a bit at a time to set the final consistency.
It's important to note that cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour. If you need to substitute cornstarch to thicken liquid in a recipe that calls for ¼ cup (four tablespoons) flour, you only need two tablespoons cornstarch.
Introduction: My name is Dan Stracke, I am a homely, gleaming, glamorous, inquisitive, homely, gorgeous, light person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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