Parsnip & Sweet Potato Soup with Pomegranate & Mascarpone
Roots and fruits are a great match for puréed soups, they merge to a deliciously warming treat full of fragrant flavours. They often balance each other out, like the strong parsnip which has such an overpowering impact that it's best in combination with other ingredients that underline its subtle sweetness.
I went for robust sweet potatoes, a great team player, and juicy pomegranate seeds, their sourness is a wonderful addition to the earthy aroma. And, of course, their dramatic look is quite a stunner on the root's pale pink! When I cook these kind of soups I like to spare on heavy cream, I just stir in a little bit to support the natural creaminess which is already given through the puréed vegetables. It doesn't need much of the dairy product otherwise it will turn into a heavy meal and that's the opposite of what I'm after. I prefer to refine the roots with another kind of milkiness, a discovery I made in October for my parsnip and pear soup. I used whipped mascarpone cheese, just a small spoonful, but this time I mixed it with cardamom and a bit of orange juice, it literally melted into the root composition!
Parsnip & Sweet Potato Soup with Pomegranate & Cardamom Mascarpone
For 4 as a starter you need
parsnip, peeled and chopped, 300g / 10.5 ounces
sweet potato, peeled and chopped, 200g/ 7 ounces
medium onion, chopped, 1
vegetable broth 800ml / 2 pints
bay leaf 1
rosemary 1-2 small sprigs
olive oil
heavy cream 75ml / 2.5 ounces
salt and pepper
honey 1-2 teaspoons, to taste
ground cardamom
mascarpone 100g / 3.5 ounces, for the topping
freshly squeezed orange juice, to taste, for the topping
pomegranate, peeled, 1, for the topping
In a large pot, heat a splash of olive oil and cook the onion on medium heat until soft. Add the parsnip and sweet potato and cook for a minute. Pour in the broth and add the bay leaf and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper and cook for about 20 minutes or until the roots are soft. Take the rosemary out after 10 minutes and the bay leaf when the soup is done. Purée the soup in a blender or with a stick mixer, stir in the heavy cream, honey and a pinch of cardamom, season to taste.
Whisk the mascarpone with 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom and a splash of orange juice. Add a bit of heavy cream if it's too thick and season to taste.
Serve the warm soup with a dollop of mascarpone, pomegranate seeds and some cardamom sprinkled on top.
Heaven and Earth - Parsnip and Pear Soup
Heaven and Earth, Himmel und Erde! In the German Rhineland area where I grew up, we have a popular traditional dish which is named after the elements where the ingredients for this meal grow. Heaven and Earth, Himmel und Ääd in the Rhineland dialect, combines mashed potatoes with a sweet apple compote. It's often served with black pudding but it started as a vegetarian dish for the poor in the 18th century.
Today's soup was inspired by this idea of the elements but I replaced the potato with parsnip and the apple with pear. It's a sweet and earthy composition cooked in a strong meat broth. I used venison stock as I had some left from the game cooking session in my mother's kitchen a couple weeks ago. It added a warm and hearty touch to the soup which I refined with lots of garlic, a bay leaf, thyme and rosemary. I cooked it for only 25 minutes until the roots were soft before I puréed it into a velvety treat for cold autumn nights. The flavours were so strong that it could take a little bit of heavy cream stirred in and a dollop of mascarpone with some flowery marjoram sprinkled on top.
Parsnip and Pear Soup
For 2 as a main or 4 as a starter you need
parsnip, peeled and chopped, 300g / 10.5 ounces
large crunchy pear, peeled, cored and chopped, 1, about 200g / 7 ounces
medium onion, chopped, 1
garlic, quartered, 3 big cloves
meat or vegetable broth 800ml / 2 pints
bay leaf 1
a small bunch of thyme
a sprig of rosemary
olive oil
heavy cream 50ml / 2 ounces
salt
ground pepper plus black peppercorns crushed in a mortar for the topping
mascarpone, crème fraîche or sour cream 4 heaped teaspoons, for the topping
fresh marjoram leaves, thinly sliced, a small handful, for the topping
In a large pot, heat a splash of olive oil and cook the onion on medium heat until soft. Add the parsnip, garlic and pear and cook for a minute. Pour in the broth and add the bay leaf, thyme and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 25 minutes or until the roots are soft.
Purée the soup in a blender or with a stick mixer. Stir in the cream, season to taste and serve with a dollop of mascarpone and some marjoram and crushed black pepper on top.
