Turnip and Greens Soup with Roast Pumpkin

Friday 6 November

On Monday, Barbara picked our own garden carrots and turnips.  The latter are Italian and purple and white instead of the little white Hakureis we've been eating so constantly, and they are really young instead of just small.  So tonight, we made this recipe, adapted from Chez Panisse Vegetables.

Turnip and Turnip Green Soup

1/2 onion

1 small clove garlic

1/2 Tablespoon olive oil

1/2 Tablespoon butter

4-5 young turnips with greens

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1-2 rashers bacon, diced

ca. 2 cups chicken stock

salt and pepper

Block of pecorino romano cheese

Peel and slice onion and garlic thin.  Put in non-reactive (enamel) pot with olive oil, butter, and 1 Tablespoon water and stew, covered, until they are soft and translucent.

Trim stems and greens from the turnips; set aside. If the turnips are very young and tender, it is unnecessary to peel them, but we did. Trim off the roots, slice the turnips thin and add them to the pot. Stew for a few minutes until they begin to soften.  Add bay leaf, thyme, bacon, chicken stock, and salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 1/2 hour.

De-stem, wash, and spin dry the turnip greens; chop into half-inch-wide strips and stir them into the soup.  Simmer for another ten minutes or so, until greens are tender.

Garnish the soup with a few curls of shaved pecorino romano, and serve.

This is a soup with bite to it.  As Barbara's grandmother would have said, it gives iron to the blood.  

We also had some slices of our roast pumpkin from Halloween on the side, to flesh it out.