As the crisp autumn air settles in and the leaves start to turn golden, there's nothing quite like a comforting bowl of our parsnip and pear soup. It captures the flavours of the season, with the combination of creamy parsnips and the subtle sweetness of ripe pears, creating a velvety-smooth soup that comes together in a flash – perfect for chilly weeknights. Topped with caramelised pears and fresh parsley, it's special enough to serve as a dinner party starter, too.
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Yields:
4 serving(s)
Prep Time:
25 mins
Cook Time:
35 mins
Total Time:
1 hr
Cal/Serv:
232
Ingredients
2Tbsp.
olive oil
1
large onion, roughly chopped
2
celery sticks, roughly chopped
1
garlic clove, crushed
1tsp.
curry powder
1/2Tbsp.
ground cumin
2
pinches hot chilli powder
450g
parsnips, roughly chopped
1l
hot vegetable stock
3
pears
15g
butter
1tsp.
golden caster sugar
2Tbsp.
freshly chopped flat-leafed parsley to garnish
Directions
Step 1
Heat oil in a pan and add the onion, celery and garlic. Cover and cook gently for 10min until softened. Stir in spices; cook for 1min.
Step 2
Add parsnips and stock; cover and simmer for 10min. Peel, core and chop two pears. Add to pan; simmer, covered, for 5min. Cool a little. Whiz in a food processor until smooth.
Step 3
Peel and core the remaining pear; slice thinly. Heat butter in a pan; cook pear for 3min until lightly golden, then sprinkle the sugar over. Cook for 3min, turning occasionally. Set aside.
Step 4
Return soup to rinsed out pan and reheat. Season. Ladle into bowls and garnish with caramelised pears and parsley.
Get ahead
Make to the end of step two. Cool and pour into a sealable container. Chill for up to two days. Complete recipe.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
