Apple and Parsnip Soup

Creamy Vegan Parsnip and Apple Soup

This is a delicious and unusual soup that I first posted back in January 2012 when I was just starting out in the blogging world. I’d never made a soup with apple in it before but I tried it and I was so chuffed I remember it lighting a creative spark in me, I couldn’t wait to try lots of new things.

The great thing about this soup is that there are not a vast list of ingredients, it is cheap and healthy and perfect for the winter season.

I served it up as a starter for my VegHotPot dinner party (a night where I only cooked recipes from my blog) with some fresh thyme sprinkled on top and served with my brussel sprout flat bread and everyone really enjoyed it 🙂 It was light enough to be served before pasta but still substantial enough to quieten down hungry tummies!

The original recipe made half the amount of soup but used only half a Bramley apple, these days I try to use whole ingredients so you’re not left with half a cooking apple lying around etc.

I also added a potato just to enhance the creaminess and make the soup thicker and paler in colour. It balanced out the strong parsnip and sweet apple perfectly so I would suggest not skipping on the potato!

The soup is seasoned with cumin which brings an earthy tone to the sweet vegetables and thyme which gives it a lovely fragrance.

Serves 6

Vegan, Gluten Free, Low Fat, Economical, Delicious!

1 Large Onion
1 Large Leek
2 Garlic Clove
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
Salt and Pepper
2 Parsnip
1 Potato
1 Bramley Apple
1.2 l Vegetable Stock (Gluten Free variety)
Olive Oil for sauteing

To prepare the vegetables: Dice the onion. Thinly slice the leek and peel then cut the parsnip and potato into small chunks. Peel and core the apple then slice into chunks around the same size as the parsnip. Crush the garlic clove.

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a saucepan and add the onion, leek,  garlic, cumin and thyme. Fry for around 4-5 minutes on a low/medium heat untill softened then season with salt and pepper. Add the parsnip and potato and cook for a further minute or two. Try not to brown the veg as it will change the colour of the blended soup, add some water if it starts to brown.

Add the apple and the vegetable stock and simmer on a medium heat for 15-20 minutes.

Take off the heat and using a hand held blender puree the soup (you could also pour it into a blender). Serve with some black pepper and a sprinkle of thyme.