Carrot and Parsnip Soup

Carrot and parsnip soup with garnishes of dill oil, smoked paprika seasoned crushed pine nuts, and a Greek yogurt-sour cream-lemon condiment. The bread is homemade rye, following the recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

I’ve been wanting to expand my repertoire of homemade breads, and the recent experiments in smørrebrød had me thinking of rye. I found a helpful recipe over at Smitten Kitchen, and the results were great. Needing something to eat with the bread, and with the first days approximating fall weather here in Houston, I decided to make soup. This carrot and parsnip soup proved to be a great dish for the rye bread to accompany.

Ingredients:

Soup:

1 tbsp  canola oil

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced

1 Granny Smith apple; peeled, cored, and diced

1 lb carrots; peeled and diced

1 lb parsnips; peeled and diced

8 cups vegetable or chicken stock

2 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground white pepper

8 sprigs of fresh thyme, tied

2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste

Condiment:

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

juice from half of a lemon

1 tbsp heavy whipping cream

1/2 tsp honey

sea salt, to taste

Additional Garnishes:

fresh dill oil

smoked paprika seasoned crushed pine nuts

Methods:

For the soup, heat the oil and butter over medium heat, and then add the diced onion. Sauté for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, and then add the diced carrots and parsnips. Continue cooking for 4 more minutes, stirring occasionally, and then add the apple and garlic. Once the garlic becomes fragrant (not burnt), add the cider vinegar and reduce. Add the seasonings and herbs. Mix. Add the stock. Bring to boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook covered until the vegetables become tender (about 30 minutes). When the vegetables are soft, remove the tied bunch of thyme stems and blend the soup thoroughly. As I do when making soup, I prefer to use a hand blender.

For the condiment, mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. For the dill oil, chop the dill leaves, combine with enough of a 50/50 mix of grape seed oil and olive oil to cover the herbs, and season with sea salt to taste. For the pine nuts, toast 2 tbsp of pine nuts and cool. Once cool, crush the pine nuts with 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika. I use a mortar and pestle.