Cream of Turnip Soup

I admit, the humble turnip is not the most glamorous of vegetables but in the past week I have changed my mind about this seemingly boring vegetable.

In my Able & Cole veg box I received 1kg of turnips... at first I was pretty miffed... "what do these idiots think I'm going to do with a ton of turnips?" Previously I'd only a small amount of turnip in soups, stews and of course Cornish pasties, I'd never used them as a key ingredient.

It didn't take me long to realise that there are many recipes on the Internet that utilise turnips as the main component. 

So, I decided to make some soup similar in style to Leek and Potato Soup... the result is surprisingly good.

I'd urge you to try it. 

And I forgive you, Able & Cole... you can send me a ton of turnips again - just not every week, thank you.

Here's my recipe for "Cream of Turnip Soup":

Cream of Turnip Soup
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used rapeseed)
2 rashers of smoked bacon, cut into small pieces (optional)
1 onion, finely chopped
750g turnips, peeled and chopped into 2cm cubes
3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 2cm cubes
160ml white wine
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
1 x sprig of sage
1 x bay leaf
freshly ground black pepper
fresh parsley, chopped

To serve:
6 tbsp double cream

Method:

• Heat the oil in a large pan.
• Fry the bacon until it starts to go crispy.
• Turn down the heat and add the onions. Fry gently until soft.
• Throw in the turnips and potatoes and stir well. Sweat for 10 minutes.
• Stir in the wine and raise the heat. Allow to reach boiling point.
• Now pour in the stock.
• Place the bay leaf and sage sprig in the pan and season with pepper.
• Put a lid on and gently simmer for approximately 30 minutes or until the turnips are tender.
• Remove the bay leaf and puree the soup with either a food processor or a hand held blender.
• Before serving, add the double cream (1 tbsp per serving), chopped parsley and warm through.
• For a special touch, you can also fry up extra bacon to sprinkle on top of the soup once in the bowl.