Warming Root Soup made from Christmas Leftovers

When the temperatures plummet in winter, this is the moment to knock up a quick and easy warming soup using the root vegetables of the season. Root vegetables are very grounding - best sown when the moon is waning and energies are being pulled down into the earth. This grounding energy is all locked up in the beautiful fat roots of plants like turnips, swede, carrots and parsnips. I have also used celeriac in this recipe which is technically not a root as it is actually the base of the stem that swells, rather than the root, but I feel that its deep earthy flavour is enough to include it in this food group. 

In fact the entirety of this soup was made using leftovers from Christmas meals, including the turkey stock as well as the stock from roasting the ham, based on cider infused with cloves and star anise. To these spices I added smoked paprika, fresh garlic and fresh ginger.

Here is the list of ingredients which I used, based on what was left in the fridge after Christmas:-

1 swede, peeled and chopped into chunks

1 pack of parsnips (about 5), peeled and chopped into chunks

Half a celeriac, scrubbed and chopped into chunks (if you scrub it well, you don’t need to peel it which is a tricky job and frankly unnecessary if it is cleaned well with a brush)

A few fat cloves of fresh garlic, peeled and chopped or crushed

A finger of fresh ginger, peeled (use a teaspoon to scrape off the thin skin) and grated

A teaspoon of cloves

A teaspoon or so of smoked paprika 

1 or two Star anise

Method

All I did was chop up the roots and cook them till soft in the combined turkey and ham stock with the additional herbs and spices - remembering to remove the cloves and star anise before you liquidise the soup! If you don’t have fresh stock, then you can make some up using cubes or stock pots, but homemade is preferable. And if you had some leftover gravy from the turkey you could chuck that in too.  

Once the vegetables are cooked through and soft, remove the hard spices (cloves and star anise) and simply liquidise the soup either with a stick blender or in a liquidiser or food processor. Blend it until it is beautifully smooth and serve with a dollop of crème fraiche or a swirl of cream if you have them, together with a hunk of toasted brown bread or whatever you have in your bread bin. 

Soup is renowned for warming you up quickly and this one, with its added spices, is perfect for bringing you an inner glow on a chilly winter’s day.