Hairy Bikers parsnip and apple soup matches its parsnips gram for gram with Bramley apples, 600g of each. Most recipes call for one or two apples, so this is a much sharper, more apple-led soup. It comes from British Classics and makes six bowls at around 215 calories, in just over an hour.
They write in British Classics that they first tasted this at Leslie Castle in Aberdeenshire while filming there. They have made it ever since, because the sweet parsnips and sharp apple go together perfectly. They also give a curried version in the same book, which is worth knowing before you start.
Bramleys are the one thing you should not swap. They are sharp rather than sweet, and they collapse to nothing as they cook, so they season the soup rather than bulk it out. Eating apples do the opposite, holding their shape and adding sugar, which turns the whole pot into pudding.
Hairy Bikers Parsnip and Apple Soup
Description
Fifteen minutes of gentle frying starts this off, before garlic and Bramley apples join the pan. Stock goes in next, then a simmer and a blitz until smooth. Milk stirred through at the end finishes this Hairy Bikers apple and parsnip soup.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Fry the parsnips: Melt the butter and oil in a large saucepan. Add the onions and parsnips, then fry gently for about 15 minutes until the onions have softened.
- Add the apples: Stir in the garlic and apples. Cook for another couple of minutes, stirring often.
- Pour in the stock: Add the hot stock and bring the pan to the boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer.
- Simmer: Cook for about 20 minutes, until the parsnips are very soft.
- Blend: Take the pan off the heat and season with salt and pepper. Blitz until smooth with a stick blender or in a food processor.
- Add the milk: Stir in the milk, adding a little more if you want it thinner. Warm through and taste for seasoning.
FAQs
Do I need to peel the parsnips?
Yes, for anything but the smallest ones. Parsnip skin is thicker and more bitter than carrot skin, and it will not soften enough to blend away.
Buy medium parsnips while you are at it, not the biggest in the box. Large ones grow a woody core that stays hard however long you simmer it, so you end up cutting it out anyway.
Should I roast the parsnips instead of frying them?
You can, and roasting does concentrate the flavour more. It also adds half an hour and a tray to wash, which is why the book does not bother.
Fifteen minutes in butter gets you most of the way there. The onions soften, the parsnips start to sweeten, and it all happens in the pan you are already using. Their carrot and coriander soup uses the same long fry for the same reason.
How do I make the curried version?
One tablespoon of Madras curry powder, added to the onions, parsnips and apple just before the stock goes in. That is exactly what they suggest in British Classics.
Timing is the bit that matters. The spice wants a minute in hot fat to open up, but put it in at the start and it sits there for fifteen minutes and turns bitter.
Why is the milk added after blending?
Because hot milk foams up in a blender and can split. Keeping it out until the soup is smooth avoids both. Their mushroom soup does the same, adding milk at the end and never letting it boil.
It also lets you judge the thickness. You blend first, see where it lands, then use the milk to loosen it. The book says to add a little extra if you need it, so treat 150ml as a starting point.
Is it a sweet soup?
Yes, fairly. Parsnips are naturally sweet and cooked apple adds more, so it sits closer to a starter than a main course.
Black pepper and salt pull it back if it goes too far, and a squeeze of lemon does the same. Blue cheese works well against it too, crumbled on at the table. Their broccoli and stilton soup shows how far Stilton can carry a sweet vegetable.
