Carrot and Parsnip Soup: Perfect way to welcome Fall | Fall Recipe - Her Mise En Place (2024)

FAQs

How do you reduce the sweetness in parsnip soup? ›

As for me, here are the common sense lessons learned:

Once this does happen, you can tone down the sweetness by adding spices like cumin, nutmeg or lemon juice. Deviate from the recipe to reduce sweetness. Instead of adding 4 parsnip to the recipe, reduce the number of parsnip by half.

How to prepare parsnips. Young, small parsnips don't really need peeling – just scrub clean and serve whole. Older parsnips should be peeled very thinly with a peeler or sharp knife, then chopped into evenly sized chunks. If the central core is very fibrous, this should be cut away.

While raw vegetables can often taste bitter, roasting them means that the dry heat of the oven helps caramelise the natural sugars within, resulting in the incredible sweet flavour of roasted carrots and parsnips.

I recommend peeling parsnips before adding them to recipes like this parsnip soup. If you don't peel them, you'll likely be adding a bitter taste to the soup. Why is my parsnip soup bitter? If you leave the peels on the parsnip, it can cause your soup to taste bitter.

Add flour or cornflour

Put a tablespoon of either into a small bowl and stir in 2-3 tbsp of the soup until you have a smooth mixture. Stir this back into the soup and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few minutes to allow the starch granules to burst to thicken, and to cook out any flour flavour.

Sweetness can help balance bitterness, so consider adding ingredients like carrots, onions, or a small amount of sugar or honey. Acidic ingredients like tomatoes or a splash of vinegar can also help balance flavors.

If a raw parsnip becomes soft and squishy, this is a sign of rot and it should no longer be eaten.

Lynn Blanchard, the Better Homes & Gardens Test Kitchen director, agrees that scrubbing is sufficient, but there are cases when peeled carrots are best. If you want a smooth puree for a soup or baby food, then peeling would be the way to go, Blanchard says.

Yes, you can eat parsnips raw. In fact, they make a delightful alternative to raw carrot sticks for dunking into homemade houmous. Raw grated parsnip is also a tasty addition to salads. Just make sure you wash your parsnips well before chopping them and slice off any bits of skin that might look bruised or blackened.

Parsnips have a long root like carrots while turnips are round like radishes. Parsnips are sweeter than turnips, with a hint of licorice taste. Parsnips are in the same family as carrots, while turnips are in the same family as cabbage. That gives you an idea of their taste and how they can be used.

Are carrots and parsnips healthy? ›

Parsnips are a type of root vegetable, closely related to carrots and parsley root. They're rich in several important nutrients and antioxidants that may improve immunity, enhance digestive health, and aid weight loss.

When cut into bite-size pieces most root vegetables take about 20 minutes to become tender when boiled, so add them towards the end of cooking time to avoid mushy vegetables.

Cooking instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan, then add the carrots and parsnips and toss to coat in the oil. Add the thyme, cinnamon, star anise and some seasoning. Cook over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes, turning the vegetables frequently, until golden brown and almost cooked through.

Italian Seasoning: a classic mixture of oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil, and sage goes well with almost any fresh vegetables. Bay Leaf: you should only need one for this big batch of soup, a little goes a long way with bay leaves, giving your soup a great depth of flavor.