Curry Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

 

 

One thing I really love about the arrival of the autumn months is that we have a huge variety of fresh vegetables coming into the markets.  We usually have bright sunny days and cooler nights. 

Much of the humidity and heat of the summer has dissipated and we can start to enjoy  some heartier fare and dishes. I just love using all of the local fresh produce in this way!!

 

With things easing up a bit Covid wise here in Nova Scotia, I felt that I wanted to invite my friend Jacquie over for lunch one day last week. She has been a good friend to me for many years.

She lost her husband Tom several years ago now. Tom baptized me when I joined the church.  So Jacquie is on her own now, and I am on my own now as well.  I am lucky in that I have plenty of family around to help keep me occupied, but Jacquie has nobody.  She is literally on her own.

 

So anyways I invited her over for lunch on Friday.  I thought to just make something simple for us to enjoy.  Jacquie is a quasi-vegetarian.  She will eat fish, and she likes turkey, but she basically doesn't eat much in the way of meat at all, and she avoids dairy completely.

So when I was thinking of something to serve for lunch I remembered a soup that I used to make when I worked at the Manor for the ladies' luncheons for a root vegetable soup.  It was delicious and all of the ladies loved it.

 

It used a mix of root vegetables in any combination. One thing which was lovely about it was that the vegetables were roasted in the oven prior to making the soup.

Roasting the vegetables  first really helped to broaden the depth of flavors and heighten the sweetness of the root vegetables.

 

I thought it was something we both would enjoy!  I was right. It went down a real treat.

I love this soup.  The original soup was based on a recipe by Ina Garten I believe, but I can't be sure. In any case adding the curry flavors was my idea.  Root vegetables lend themselves very well to the flavors of curry.

 

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE ROAST ROOT VEGETABLE SOUP

One of the nicest things about this soup is that you can use any combination of root vegetables that you have to hand, depending on what you really enjoy to eat.  On this particular day I used butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, onions and garlic.  

You can also use Swede (rutabaga), celeriac, any kind of winter squash, potatoes, etc.  Really any root vegetable in any combination will work.

Other than that you only need some good vegetable or chicken stock. I like the gel stock pots.  You also need salt, pepper, curry powder, ground cumin, ground ginger and ground coriander. These spices will give your soup a lovely flavor.  Feel free to increase the amounts depending on how spicy you like your soups to be!

 

HOW TO MAKE ROAST ROOT VEGETABLE SOUP

There is nothing difficult whatsoever when it comes to making this soup.  I am rather lazy you know and if I can find a way of doing things easier I will! No fuss, no muss is my motto!

You just peel all of your vegetables and then cut them into cubes, roughly 1-inch in size. These get tossed together with some olive oil and seasoning and then roasted in a hot oven. Roasted until they start to caramelize just a tiny bit.  It is this caramelization that will give your soup flavor and even some color!

 

Once roasted you need to have a pot of hot stock waiting to add the tender, and caramelized vegetables too.  It is at this time I also add my curry seasonings.

You could roast the vegetables with them, but I prefer to do it this way so that they are not overly intense.  

The vegetables get simmered in the stock for a bit and then the whole thing gets blitzed until smooth either using a stick blender or in a regular blender, and that's basically it.

 

Depending on the type of vegetables you have used you may need a bit more stock to give you the proper consistency.  On this particular day I used several sweet potatoes, which can be a bit thick, so I probably used a bit more stock than in the recipe.

Also the amount of stock will vary according to how thick you want your soup. If you like your soup to be more like a soup and less like a vegetable puree, you will obviously need more stock.

 

Because this soup was for company, I also pressed it through a sieve using the back of a wooden spoon after I pureed it. I wanted to make sure it was super smooth and velvety, creamy even.  That did the trick beautifully.

I did not want to be eating baby food.  Because there is no dairy or milk in the recipe, it reheats beautifully without risk of curdling, etc. 

 

I topped the individual servings of soup with a drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil, a smattering of freshly ground black pepper and some crispy garlic bread croutons that I made myself.  This soup was delicious.  Truly delicious.

I served it with some crusty bread for  mopping and a large mixed leaf salad with peas, red onion, radishes, cucumber, baby tomatoes, boiled egg, crispy onions and a mustard vinaigrette.  We had lemon squares for dessert and we were two very happy campers.

It was a delicious lunch for sure, but the best part was getting to spend some time together.  Jacquie got to get out of her house for a while, and I got to spend time with a good, good friend. I feel safe with Jacquie because she is on her own and doesn't mingle with a lot of people, just at church and we are all well masked and distanced from each other.  It was just good. Good.  Good.

Curry Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

Yield: 2 -3

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 Hour

One of my favorite soups to make in the autumn when all of the root vegetables are ripe for the pulling and the days are becoming cooler. Delicious. Its a balance to end up with soup instead of vegetable puree, so make sure you add enough stock so this doesn't happen. The amount will largely depend on the vegetables you use! You can easily double this to serve more.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds assorted root vegetables, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks (I like to use a mix of carrots, sweet potatoes, parsnips, rutabaga, onions, winter squash, garlic and shallots)
• 1 1/2 TBS olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 - 4 cups (720ml - 960ml) good vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 tsp medium curry powder
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• fine sea salt and  black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Toss the vegetables in a bowl along with the oil, sea salt and black pepper. Spread out on a lightly oiled baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until tender, giving them a stir a couple of times.
2. Heat the chicken or vegetable stock in a saucepan adding the coriander, cumin and curry powder. Add the roasted vegetables and heat through. Remove from the heat and, using an immersion blender, blitz until smooth. (You can push it through a sieve at this point if you want it even smoother.)
3. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. If the soup is too thick, thin with more hot stock until you have the consistency you want. Heat through again and serve hot, ladled into heated bowls, with a drizzle of olive oil on top and some garlic croutons. (See note.)

Notes:

To make garlic croutons. Cut several thick slices of a rustic bread into 3/4 inch cubes. (I discard the crusts) Toss together with some salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste, and a drizzle of olive oil. Toast in a 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6 oven for 10 minutes or so, stirring halfway through the bake time, until golden brown.

All nutritional data is calculated by the recipe card program and may not be entirely accurate.

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