Parsnip soup (reprise)..

Well, our old family Parsnip & Apple soup recipe was appropriately transformed with the addition of chilli flakes. Brilliant.

Very simple to make - peel and chop 2 big parsnips and a Bramley cooking apple into chunks. Also chop a medium sized onion. Heat up a bit of oil in a pan and heat the onions, parsnips and apples for a bit, then saute them with half a teaspoon of chilli flakes. Obviously this bit depends on how into chilli you are. I think we are largely immune, so it takes a bit more... Meanwhile make up a pint of chicken stock (could be veg too I guess). Once the other ingredients are a bit brown and softened, add the stock. Let the whole thing simmer for about 30 minutes.

Nice chance to sup some ale while you're waiting. Last night I listened to Noah and the Whale's "The First Days of Spring" while it was cooking. Really impressed - it reminded me of how great music sounded when you were 17 and it was all fresh... Kind of Leonard Cohen, Tindersticks, even Joshua Tree... The eponymous first track is spine tinglingly good - haunting and desolate. Don't know what it is about bleak, lonely music that really appeals to me, but there it is.

Anyway, once the soup has had its 30 minutes simmering, whizz it in a food processor until it's quite smooth, then back into a pan. Add a pint of milk and stir well - throw in a bit of seasoning if you think it needs it.

And then serve with nice bread. I've been reading a fair bit of Nigel Slater recently (more to follow in future posts), and he has taught me that the sweetness of parsnip needs balancing. Given that most of Asian cuisine relies of balances of sweet with sour, the chilli and parsnip combo (especially as there's apple in there too) works pretty well...

Not sure what my grandmother would have thought of this one - her orignal recipe used curry powder instead of the chilli - but I think deep down she'd have approved.


So, enjoy!