In the interest of offering a more comprehensive recipe, though, I'll make one up below. We had odds and ends of vegetables in our fridge that we were desperate to use up; consequently, the Super Local Sunchoke, Turnip & Carrot Soup was born!
See what I mean? Just throw some stuff in a pot and eventually you might have soup. We were pleased to be able to make this soup from almost exclusively local ingredients: the vegetables, including the ones used in the veggie stock, were all from Kilpatrick Family Farm in Granville, NY. The olive oil comes from Dancing Ewe Farm also in Granville. We ran out of local butter, so that's where the recipe falls short. Oh, the salt and pepper aren't local either, but come on.
Sunchoke, Turnip & Carrot Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- garlic, chopped
- onions, chopped
- sunchokes (also called Jerusalem artichokes), cut into 1" chunks
- Hakurei turnips, roughly sliced
- carrots, roughly sliced
- veggie stock
- salt and pepper
What? You wanted quantities? I told you can just throw things in a pot. But if I had to guess, I'd say that we used at least a cup of chopped white onions, 2 cloves of garlic, maybe a pound (2-3 cups?) of sunchokes, 3 carrots, a bunch of Hakurei turnips (or one or two big regular ones), and 3 1/2 cups of veggie broth.
Directions
Heat the oil and butter over medium heat, and then add the chopped onion. Cook for 4-5 minutes until soft and then add the garlic and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add the rest of the veggies and saute for 7-8 more minutes. Add the veggie stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Let simmer for 35-45 minutes until the carrots, sunchokes and turnips are cooked through. Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender (alternatively, you can do this in batches in a regular blender or food processor, just be careful not to burn yourself). Taste and adjust the seasoning. Garnish with a bit of cracked black pepper and Parmesan cheese, if you wish.
No sunchokes? Use potatoes. Never heard of Hakurei turnips? Ok, just use whatever kind you can find. It will work out, I promise. We used a combination of regular and sunny carrots and it was wonderful. The sunchokes give this soup a very earthy flavor, which we love, but just let that serve as a heads-up. It came together really nicely and helped free up some space in our fridge. Speaking of our fridge, we just got our last CSA delivery of the season. Sad. I'll wrap up the "Inside the Cooler" series this week, complete with my lessons learned and reflections from our first summer as CSA members. I'll wax poetic for awhile, make a few corny vegetable jokes and finish the season strong. I may even show you my Halloween costume from this year, which (SPOILER) re-used my costume from last year.
