Curried Parsnip Soup

Here is an excellent recipe, nourishing, warming and spicy without being too extreme, capturing the sweet, nutty richness of the parsnip. Ideal too because it is easy to make, albeit pretty labour-intensive, and above all it is a way of using those knotty, gnarled fantastic creatures that grow when the earth is too densely compacted and over-manured! You can simply cut off all of those would-be roots, and take chunks from the crown and all of the flavour will come through in the soup. Perfect for a cold winter's day.

This recipe comes from the Good Housekeeping cookery book, vintage 1995.