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Carrots are always receiving attention due to their vibrant colors and beautiful heirloom varieties, and I love carrots, too, but recently I’ve been drawn to a vegetable that looks similar but possesses a different elegance and almost bold fragrance – parsnips. They’re pale and creamy in color and have a unique, earthy taste to them that is just perfect for a cozy fall soup. As you peel a raw parsnip, you can almost taste the slightly sweet nuttiness of the vegetable, hinting at what it could taste like when cooked. I roasted them and then pureed them to form a soup. I’ve been obsessed with the umami-salty and sweet combination, so I couldn’t resist adding a dollop of miso to it, and then adding some tart, crisp apples to enhance the parsnips’ intrinsic sweetness.
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This soup is cozy. Rainy day weather, foggy skies kind of cozy. Instead of topping it with croutons, I crisped up some thinly sliced lotus roots with some salt and pepper. These can be made ahead of time, which is what I did, since they require a lower temperature so as not to get completely burnt. Lotus roots are a vegetable that is crunchy by nature, but can also get slimy when cooked. It’s a slime that is welcome and you can often find them stir fried or incorporated in soups in Chinese cuisine. I’ve had them stuffed with sweet sticky rice or even as part of a porridge dish. This time though, I deviated from tradition. Actually, the first time I served these was at our Table Sharing workshop – I topped miso corn soup with baked lotus root chips, and it was so pretty and delicious I had to reproduce it, and this parsnip apple soup seemed like a great candidate. And it was. I love the contrast between the geometric shape and color of the lotus root chip and the creamy, pale parsnip soup. After I topped the soups, I just piled the rest of the chips on a plate and ate them like, well, chips.
I’ve partnered up with Wolf Gourmet to share this recipe for roasted parsnip apple soup with baked lotus root chips. When I was in St Louis, I had rented a house (also where we brought our dog Annie home as a little 11-week old puppy!!!), and for a year I lived in relative luxury with a newly renovated kitchen including a built in wine cooler, massive fridge, and most importantly? double ovens. That was actually the first year I hosted a large Thanksgiving dinner – a Friendsgiving, but because of my tendency to micromanage I ended up making all the dishes – and that double oven was very necessary. I had spreadsheets, timetables to the minute, and I think without a double oven I would’ve had to become very creative (and probably fail). Anyway, we moved away from St Louis and into Boston, which has a much higher cost of living. We’re in a cute little apartment, with a tiny kitchen. Tiny. Miniscule. One oven that is often inaccurate, which wreaks havoc on my cakes. I did the whole Thanksgiving thing last year in this apartment, and it was OK – more finagling, more planning, but also less baked items because of the one oven limitation. Oh well. Gotta work with what you have, right?
Well, Wolf Gourmet sent me this beautiful, shiny, and most importantly, functional countertop oven. Why would I sacrifice precious apartment countertop space for this? Well, because it’s 10 time better than my oven. It’s got a crumb tray, digital thermometer, and also a proof setting, which is one of the settings I’m most excited for. I recently obtained a sourdough starter and right now all I’ve been doing is feed it (because it’s my new pet and I have to keep it alive 😉 ), but I’m so excited to start baking sourdough, and I can’t wait to use this proof setting!!!! I also bake a lot of challah bread, and I usually try to hack my existing oven by turning it to the lowest it can go (250) and then shutting it off, but the oven is usually still too high in temperature for proofing my challah, so I have to just… find somewhere else warm. In Boston, this is not exactly ideal in the winter.
Find the recipe for this soup over at Food Notes!
Anyways, I’m teaming up with Wolf Gourmet to give away one of these countertop ovens ($499 retail!!)!!! Just in time for Thanksgiving, right? 🙂 No more planning swap out times for the oven, no more adjusting recipes to fit one oven temperature – now you can have two ovens to prep for that festive meal. I know I’ll be using mine instead of my subpar apartment oven!
to enter: Fill out the widget below and leave a comment on this post stating what you’d make first with this oven. You can gain an extra entry by following me on Instagram!! If you’re already following me on instagram, just confirm that you’ve done so and you’ll get the extra entry :).
Update – Giveaway has ended! Thank you all for participating. I truly enjoyed reading what you would all make first – I definitely had to go and get some food after reading through those comments :). Congratulations to Min for winning the Wolf Gourmet Countertop Oven!!
This post is sponsored by Wolf Gourmet, who is also providing a countertop oven to give away to my readers! All opinions expressed are purely my own, as always. Thank you so much for supporting the companies that support this blog.
Bowls + board: ogusky ceramics
I’d make some roasted squash first! (mostly because i can’t get enough this time of year!)
Of course I’d use the proof setting for my sourdough! This thing sure would come in handy as the winter rolls in here in the Southwest — it’s cold already!
Love the post, and I’m trying this soup next chance I get.
I also frequently bake challah bread! Living in Boston, I also experience the issue with finding a warm spot to proof the dough (my apartment oven does NOT do the trick as you said). I would use the oven to proof my dough, but also to roast vegetables during the fall and winter months. Roasted parsnips are delicious along with butternut squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes! Yum!
-Elizabeth
I’d make my rice with heart of palm casserole 🙂
I completely love parsnips too and always stock up this time of year! Sweet or savoury, they are an odd favourite of mine. Your soup sounds delicious and those lotus root chips look amazing!
This is a great giveaway. I think the first thing I’d make would be a small batch of cookies … we’re really into small batches of “I must eat a cookie now” type recipes at my house!
My tiny beacon hill apartment doesn’t even have an oven, which is the source of much sadness. First and foremost I’d have to make Parker House rolls! They remind me of family and I of course love all things drenched in butter.
I might try making pizza.
oh i’d love to roast up some carrots, or maybe bake some hand pies (it is almost thanksgiving, after all)! or all of the above. so many options!
oh and i follow you on instagram! i’m @alexbyersays!
Honestly, I’d just make some avocado toast first but then I’d get creative and make something fancy! Count me double, as i love your instagram feed!!
PS – Beautiful soup recipe! Love the rosy apples!!
I’d make some meat pies!
It would be hard to decide. Cream cheese-ginger-apple danish would be great. Or golden raisin cinnamon swirl bread. Or just some super buttery brioche to devour, slathered in MORE butter! Having a professional oven would make home baking a whole new (amazing and fun) endeavor.
Would make one of your amazing gallete recipes in there !
I would go totally bbq fish collar and salt baked root veg
That’s one comforting bowl of soup!! Love the use of lotus root chips here 🙂
First, this soup sounds amazing! As for the oven, I would definitely make some kind of open-face sandwich. Nothing better than a nice, warm, bubbly cheese on top of a sandwich. 🙂
Wow..love to proof sourdough as well.
The first thing I would create is a medley of beautiful beets..all colors.
Thanks so much.
Vickie
This sounds incredible Betty. I was just making up my grocery list for the weekend and now I’ve added parsnip. I can’t wait to try this soup. Your photos are outrageously stunning as always!
I’ve been oven-less for almost half a year now. When I first moved in to the house I’m living in now, the oven, which is the original oven installed when this 1950s house was built, was not functional. The oven is smaller than current ovens are, and we’ve been unable to find an appropriate replacement oven (that fits within our budget and kitchen space constraints).
Thus, since moving in, I have been unable to bake, which is a tragedy. I love to bake all things savory and sweet– some of the things I most love to bake are challah and creme brulee. I used to take days off to bake challah and revel in the sweet, bready smell that would permeate my old home. How wonderful is that smell?
But despite all the things I would want to bake, the first thing I would do in a new oven is to bake sugar cookies. Because what is more perfect than fresh cookies coming out of the oven?
(And then maybe I’ll make challah or creme brulee… or re-attempt my previous attempts at brioche.)
Cheers, and beautiful photos of your food here, Betty. That soup looks fantastic.
~Jeanne
Fantastic! The first thing I’d make would be creme brulee. Because creme brulee is the best dessert ever.
The first item I would make with my new Wolf countertop over, would be a big batch of brioche rolls. Hot rolls from the oven slathered with apricot jam. YUM!
I would bake a lot of pies!
I would make a yummy roasted veggie dish, something with brussels sprouts and nuts…fresh baked bread…something with figs…the possibilities are endless!
Ohhh those lotus root chips just are the perfect finishing touch Betty, I love them!! And those pink apple too? Gosh, this is one of the prettiest soups I have ever seen. Saving to make next autumn (and might just have to make those chips even sooner, seriously in awe of all that geometry). Not a US resident, but I think I would make banana bread – my go to morning tea treat!
Always looking for a new way to attempt the perfect roasted chicken!
I would make mincemeat pies for my first Christmas in my new tiny kitchen.
We have been using a tiny countertop oven to keep our house cooler in the summertime! It works great for most dishes since we’re a household of two…
The first thing I think we’d make in this oven is a lovely goat cheese quiche – it was the first thing my man and I cooked together so it holds sentimental value 🙂
Beautiful soup! I would make a pie, maybe apple pie or a pear custard pie. I follow you on Instagram too!
Probably roast butternut squash & bacon for soup.
It would be something sweet, maybe a chocolate skillet cake I saw on PureWow recently.
Betty! This is so frickin’ pretty. Parsnips don’t get enough love in my kitchen – that is gonna change, stat. This soup sounds completely divine and I’m smitten with your photos. <3
I just love these flavors and am a huge fan of parsnips too! I’ve never tried a lotus root but your chips have me wanting to hunt some down ;). So so gorgeous, Betty! And this oven! HOW STELLAR is this (!!!). <3
Admittedly, parsnips are such a mystery to me but oh this soup looks so warm and perfect for the coming winter! LOVE<3
I would roast carrots and sweet potato (maybe manioc also for the Brazil memories), try one of your hand pie recipes (specifically the kimchi pork belly one), and maybe even the roasted carrot daikon galette 😉
& yes, I already follow you on insta. yay!
The first thing I would try to make is a British Christmas Cake
The first thing I would make in this new Wolf Gourmet Countertop Oven is homemade turkey stuffing. I would Freak Out if I won this one thank you so very much for the chance and God Bless.
I’m completely intrigued by the “proofing” setting and think that getting my fingers on it would mean following your lead of sourdough bread! My favorite and most coveted bread, how spectacular it would be to get it just perfect. Thank you so much for the offering. Your soup is spectacular!! And think that will be my short list as well.
I would make cookies.
I would just stare at it for a while, and then I would probably make cookies or brownies! My favorite!
I would roast a succulent cajun-spiced chicken!
Ohhh a proof setting would be awesome! I would have to make some kind of bread!
what an amazing giveaway!!!! i would cook my chicken dinner every single day in this. i too live in a tiny apartment with the worst oven EVER. beautiful photo’s as always betty.
I would make a christmas gingerbread cake! And sugar cookies too.
I would probably make my family pumpkin pies for the holidays!
Orange Scones will be the first thing I make in this beautiful Wolf Gourmet countertop oven!
Beautiful post! It will be absolutely awesome if I win the counter top oven. It has been in my “to buy” list for quite some time now. Even though I am still away from having one, I have already thought about and decided the first thing I want to bake in it. I love fish, and it will be really easy and quick to cook baked fish in the counter top oven.
Ah! So that is why you have been waiting to make your sourdough. I am so glad that situation has been remedied. 🙂
I would make a delicate tomato tart, chestnut madeleines, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, almond cakes, breads of all kinds and of course sourdough pizza.
Ee!! I’d make some creamy gratin with a bucket load of cheeeeese!!
I’m such a fan of savory pies – I’d start my first meal off in this oven with a chicken pot pie!
The very first thing I’d love to bake with this oven (and oh how wonderful it would be to have a precise tool to rely on for baking!) would be…your miso apple pie! I’ve been dreaming of apple pies this whole autumn and I would love to try your version!
P.S. I love your photos! and I’ve been following your Instagram account for a while too ^^ All the best!
i would make brownies!
What a fantastic giveaway! I wish I could enter 🙁 I will have to settle for making that lovely soup instead. I love parsnips, they are such an underrated vegetable – they are fantastic parboiled, dusted in flour and grated Parmesan and oven roasted in hot olive oil. x
I would make some homemade mac n cheese, with sweet onions and bacon. You can’t forget the bacon 😉
deciding between a turkey pot pie or gruyere, leek, and cremini quiche! Doesn’t that sound yummy? Definitely need some comfort food around this time of year~
Our kids love fish sticks and chicken nuggets, and I hate having to heat the entire oven just for a small pan of fish sticks. That is the first thing I would use this for.
Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! This soup looks incredible and those lotus root chips = gold!! I wish I had a giant bowl of this soup rn!
This post is GORGEOUS. Obsessed with the tones and colors and textures. Also—I’m completely obsessed with toaster ovens and this one looks AWESOME. I’d bake up some of this apple honey tahini bread I’m working on right now!
I’m coming over for this soup 😉 this looks delicious and I love something with a crunch on top of a soup purée.
Would love to make some mini pot pies
I’d like to bake a pie!
I’d make some lemon tartlets with this awesome oven!
Oh! And I follow you on Instagram @rosyretrospection
Hooray! And how about a veggie baked pasta? (Ps I also follow you on IG).
I would love to have an oven like this, because we never use our microwave and it would be perfect for reheating everything! But first I would make some sourdough bialys! They would proof so perfectly in here too! Love following you on Instagram Betty!
I would probably make a banana-coconut bread..yes, I WOULD make a banana-coconut bread!:D
Apple cinnamon ricotta galettes with a drizzle of honey and a few sprigs of thyme, fo sho.
i would make a roast
In my new oven, I would make apple cider and sage dinner rolls, which I’ve been aching to make! And that would be just the beginning. I’d make pumpkin soup, vegan roasts, and beet chips. nothing makes me happier than baking and my humble 30-year old oven could use an upgrade.