Parsnip & Orange Soup

Photo of my finished soup

This is a very tasty soup, but remember parsnips and carrots are a little on the sweet side, so adjust the salt & pepper to taste.


Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
1 Large onion chopped
1 large leek sliced
2 carrots thinly sliced
800 g /1lb. 12ozs parsnips, sliced
1 piece of fresh ginger about 2ozs or (2 inch piece) peeled and grated
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
grated rind of half an orange ( I only had a satsuma !! so grated all the peel)
1.4 litres/2. 1/2 pints/6 cups water
The juice sqeezed from the satsuma (in my case) or from your orange
salt & pepper
snipped chives or slivers of spring onions to garnish
A dribble of single cream (optional) I added this at the end of warming and just before serving.

METHOD

1) Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and leek and cook over a medium heat for 5 mins stirring occasionally until softened.


2) Add the Parsnips, carrots, ginger, garlic, grated orange rind, water, salt & pepper ( I also added a half of an organic vegetable 'Kallo' stockcube, my choice ,but not in the recipe) I will try it without next time. reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 40 mins stirring occasionally until the vegetables are very soft.


3) Allow the soup to cool slightly, then transfer to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. ( My personal preference is to leave some behind so that I have a few bits of veg in the soup )


4) Return the soup to the pan and stir in the orange juice. Add a little more water at this stage if you prefer thinner soup. Adjust salt & pepper to your taste. Return to the heat and simmer for 5 mins until warmed through.

5) Before serving add a dribble of cream to the pan. Ladle into warm bowls and garnish with chives or chopped spring onion.

ENJOY !!!

Just a tip !

This makes a large quantity of soup, so if you want to add cream as I did, only take out how much soup you are going to serve up and add the cream to this amount in another pan.