, Step by step

Parsnip and coconut curry soup

A warming spiced parsnip soup with a hint of coconut, perfect for lunch or supper.

Mark Stower, Director of Food and Service.

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 40 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

Step 1

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4 or 180˚C. Place the parsnips on a baking tray, coat in 50ml of olive oil and roast in the oven for approximately 25 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to one side.
Step 2

Add the remaining olive oil into a thick-bottomed pan and over a medium heat soften the onions, then add the curry powder and cook for one minute.
Step 3

Now add the cooked parsnips, honey, garlic, vegetable stock and coconut milk.
Step 4

Stir all the ingredients together and bring to a simmer. Add the coriander stalks and season with salt and pepper.
Step 5

Leave to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Step 6

Take the soup off the heat and blend until smooth in the pan, using a stick blender.
Step 7

Check the seasoning and consistency. This can be adjusted with adding extra vegetable stock.
Step 8

Ladle into bowls and scatter over some fresh coriander leaves.

Parsnips are members of the parsley family and originated from roots that still grow wild in the UK.
They were a popular food with the Romans and their name derives from the Latin word ‘pastus’ that means ‘fed’. They were also used as medicines for toothache!
In the Middle Ages parsnips were used to sweeten foods like cakes and preserves before the introduction and wider availability of beet and cane sugar and because honey was very expensive.
Parsnips are a useful source of various vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C and potassium.
The other main ingredient in this soup – coconut milk – is the grated pulp of ripe coconuts soaked in water. It may be thinned with added water, as in canned coconut milk. It contains hardly any vitamins or minerals.
A portion of Mark’s delicious soup provides just under two of the recommended five portions a day. Unfortunately, even if you have more of this soup, it only counts as one of the five, because you need to eat a variety of different types of vegetables and fruit – raw or cooked, frozen, or dried – each day.

DR JULIET GRAY, COMPANY NUTRITIONIST