Root Vegetable Soup
Serves 8-10

Inspiration
At the farmers market a few weeks ago I saw what might be the last of this season’s fresh root vegetable: turnips, rutabaga, parsnips, squashes, beets, carrots, celeriac (celery root) and potatoes. Within seconds my market bag weighed at least 10 lbs. and I had not even reached the cheese or poultry stalls. By the following Friday there were still plenty of vegetables left, so soup with fresh bread and cheese seemed like a good and light week’s end meal.

Leftovers
2 golden beets, 1 red beet, 1 turnip, 1 piece of Hubbard squash, 1 rutabaga, 3 parsnips, multi colored carrots, half a celeriac, fingerling and russet potatoes; extra caramelized onion (I deliberately made more than I needed and froze it); some sprigs of thyme, Italian parsley, and rosemary; ½ 15oz. can tomato puree; and about a cup of grated vegetables I had prepared to make root vegetable hash browns.

Hints

1. Potato Flour and Dehydrated Organic Potatoes make terrific thickening. Potato Flour is very finely milled, so it thickens like Cornstarch, but it doesn’t get that glossy look.
2. Dehydrated potatoes are just that. The starch thickens the way it would if you added mashed potatoes to the liquid.

Ingredients

Don’t be intimidated by this long list; the soup is delicious made with 3 or 4 different root vegetables. They store so well that I wait until I have several on hand and then make soup to use them up. The only fresh ingredient purchased just for this recipe is the lemon.

½ cup finely chopped yellow onion
2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and chopped
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
6 or 7 fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed from stems and discard stems
1 golden beet, peeled and sliced ¼” thick, then sliced in half
1 turnip, peeled and diced
1 rutabaga, peeled and sliced, then cut into triangles
2 parsnips, peeled and sliced ¼” thick
1 carrot, sliced
1 cup peeled and diced celeriac
1 medium russet potato, peeled, cut into small chunks and covered with cold water. Drain before adding to soup.
Juice of ½ lemon
1 quart homemade chicken stock*
Leftover tomato puree (don’t worry about it if you don’t have it)
Leftover caramelized onion (see above)
Leftover shoestring cut squash (see above)
¾ cup finely chopped Italian parsley
Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Dehydrated organic potato for thickening
Optional Garnish
Leftover grated vegetables, rolled in paper towel to drain off liquid
2 tbs. potato flour
¼ cup vegetable oil

Procedure

1. In a large soup pot, soften onion and garlic in olive oil. Add rosemary and thyme leaves and the large pieces of prepared vegetables. Add enough water to just cover the vegetables and cover the pot. Bring water to a steady simmer and cook until the vegetables are just penetrable with a fork. Add the remaining vegetables (except the shoestring squash the stock) and the lemon juice and continue to cook, uncovered until all the vegetables are easily penetrable with a fork. Add the squash, the tomato puree, the caramelized onion and ½ of the chopped parsley. Set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper to taste. To thicken the soup, bring it to a low simmer and add ½ cup dehydrated potatoes. Stir until the soup thickens, about 3-4 minutes. Continue to add potatoes until the soup reaches the thickness you like.
3. Optional Garnish (try it; it’s fun)  Heat oil in medium fry pan until the oil is almost but not quite smoking. As the oil heats, toss drained grated vegetables in flour, with a fork until all the pieces are lightly coated. Fry in oil until vegetables are crisp, continuously separating vegetable pieces with a fork. Drain on paper towel. Once fried, the vegetables must be used right away or they will go limp.
4. To Serve: Ladle soup into heated bowls. Garnish with fried vegetables and/or minced parsley.

If you end up with enough leftover for another meal, add more pureed tomato and olive oil. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and it will become Italian Winter Vegetable Soup!

*Editor’s note: Substitute vegetable stock to make a vegetarian version of this delicious soup.