I love parsnips, I always have. Even as a child they’d be the first thing I’d try to sneak off ta tray of roasted vegetables. This soup is reminiscent of the full roast chicken dinner, with thyme, lemon and a little parmesan in there for that umami flavour.

It’s a beautiful thick soup and the sweetness of the parmesan is balanced by the savoury ingredients in the soup. It’s high in fibre and a load of other essential nutrients thanks to the parsnip. I love roasting the parsnip while you get the soup started as it adds a depth of flavour to the soup, it also means you can roast your garlic simultaneously for that unmistakably rich roasted garlic flavour.

You can sub the brown onion in this for spring onion if you’re fructose intolerant like me. I’ve added potato to help get a thick and luscious soup consistency. If you have the rind of some parmesan you can also chop this up and add it with the stock.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1kg parsnip, based discarded and cut into 2-3cm chunks

3 garlic cloves, skin on

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

3 sticks of celery, roughly diced

1 brown onion, roughly diced

1 small peeled potato in a 1cm dice

2 litres vegetable stock

1 Tbs thyme leaves

2/3 cup almonds

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup parmesan

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Spread the parsnips in one layer on the prepared tray, drizzle in 1 Tbs olive oil, add the garlic to the tray and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, then remove the garlic, roast for a further 10-20 minutes or until the parsnip is tender and just starting to colour.

Meanwhile, at about the time you’re removing the garlic: put a medium-large heavy based pot on medium heat. Once hot add the remaining oil, then the celery and onion. Turn the heat down to low and saute for a few minutes until softened and translucent. Add the thyme leaves and cook for a further minute. Add the stock, potato, and almonds and bring to the boil. Squeeze the garlic into the pot.

Add the roasted parsnips into the pot and simmer everything together for a further 10 minutes, make sure the potato is cooked. Take off the heat and use a stick blender to blend, once it’s at a chunky puree stage add the milk and parmesan and then puree until smooth. Season to taste and add hot water 1/4 cup at a time if you feel the consistency is too thick.

Serve with extra thyme leaves a drizzle of olive and some parmesan and black pepper on top.

HH. x