Roasted Parsnip Pear Soup

This Roasted Parsnip Pear Soup has two of my favorite ingredients. Can you guess what they are?  (laughing)  You’d be right if you guessed parsnips and pears.

Although I love pears, they don’t like me very much. It’s not the pear really — it’s the pesticide they use on the pear. I can scrub the pear well, peel it and still have a tingly feeling on my tongue.

This time what I experienced was a tad different.  I actually had bumps that came out on my hand from handling the pear. Isn’t that odd? Here’s what it looked like:

You’re probably wondering why I’m making a recipe with pears if I’m allergic to the pesticide they put on them, right? Well, I have found that when the pear is cooked it doesn’t bother me. Another odd thing, no?

This soup was a surprise in some ways and not so much in another.  First, my husband did NOT like it. He’s not a fan of creamy type soups anyway and this one looks like Farina/Cream of Wheat. It also has the same texture and came out very very thick. I added some light coconut milk to make it creamier and that seemed to work well.

So — here’s what you’ll be needing (olive oil, salt, pepper and coconut milk not shown):

You’ll be preparing your vegetables …

After chopping the onions you’ll be putting them in a pot with a little bit of olive oil and cooking them until they are clear.

After preparing the pears and parsnips, you’ll be adding them, along with everything else, into your large pot.

You’ll also need to caramalize your nuts — I used pecans.

Let’s get started on this, shall we?

Ingredients

• 1 lb. parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 4 ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped
• Olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups vegetable bouillon
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon sage
• Cinnamon
• Salt
• Pepper

Ingredients for the caramelized pecans

• 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
2. Place the prepared parsnips and pears in an oven-proof baking dish.
3. Drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinkle with salt and toss well to evenly coat.
4. Place the baking dish in the oven15 minutes to roast the parsnips and pears.
5. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large soup pot and add the onion.
6. Sauté the onion until its soft and clear.
7. Add the vegetable bouillon and stir to mix.
8. When the pears and parsnips have roasted, add them to the vegetable bouillon in the soup pot.
9. Add the rosemary, sage and cinnamon to the soup.
10. Allow everything to cook together until the parsnips are soft.
11. When the parsnips are soft, puree the soup in a blender to a creamy mixture.
12. Prepare the caramelized/candied pecans. Click here for instructions on how to do that (very simple).
13. Season with salt and pepper.
14. Serve the soup with some caramelized pecans on top — a nice touch!.

The soup was not bad — not scrumptious but not bad. It was “heavy” in the belly. Next time I would strain the soup to make it more liquid-y and I wouldn’t serve it as the main dish but as a side to another dish.

If you decide to try it, let me know if you make any adaptations. I did adapt the original recipe, i.e. didn’t use white wine, used pecans instead of walnuts and added a wee bit of coconut milk.

And this is the final product … (I took the picture late in the evening so the natural light was all gone — thus the strange lighting.)

Served with a salad, this would make a nice light lunch or dinner.