Cozy up with Barbara’s favorite winter soup! This comforting dish features a medley of tender leeks, carrots, parsnips, and Hakurei turnips — an ode to the bounty of the colder months. Simmered slowly and puréed to a rustic texture, the soup is as satisfying as it is nourishing. A sprinkle of fresh parsley and chives brightens every spoonful.
Let us know if you try to make these at home + tag us @sylviacenter.
Prep Time: 1 hour | Serves: 6
Notes: dairy-free, gluten-free, requires cheesecloth and cooking twine
Ingredients
Sylvia Center spice mix (approx yield ½ C)
1 ½ Tbsp granulated garlic
1 Tbsp oregano
½ Tbsp black pepper
½ Tbsp turmeric
½ Tbsp onion powder
Soup
3 large leeks, white parts only, cleaned and sliced into ½-inch thick rounds
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 large yellow carrots, peeled and chopped
3 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, diced
1 lb Hakurei turnips, topped and chopped
1 large russet potato, peeled and chopped
2 qt vegetable stock, plus more if needed
1 tbsp Sylvia Center spice mix
3 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
White pepper, to taste
Bouquet garni (1 bay leaf, few sprigs each thyme and parsley – see recipe notes)
¼ C fresh parsley, leaves picked and finely chopped, for garnish
½ small bunch chives, finely chopped, for garnish
Method
- Make your Sylvia Center spice mix. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients and mix until evenly distributed. Portion out 1 Tbsp needed for the soup, and store the rest in an airtight container for future recipes.
- In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, combine the leeks, garlic, carrots, parsnips, celery, turnips, potato, stock, Sylvia Center spice mix, salt, and pepper to taste. Add more stock to cover the vegetables if needed. Add the bouquet garni, then bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 40–45 mins, until the vegetables are very soft.
- When the vegetables are cooked through and soft, remove from the heat, and carefully use an immersion blender to purée the soup in the pot (orient the blender toward the bottom of the mixture to prevent hot splashes). Blend until you have a rustic, coarse consistency.
- Return the soup to a medium heat, and taste and season with salt and white pepper if needed. To serve, garnish each bowl with a sprinkle of parsley and chives.
Adapted from NYT’s Winter Vegetable Soup with Turnips, Carrots, Potatoes and Leeks.
| Ingredients | Substitution |
| Yellow carrots | Orange carrots (will change soup color) |
| Hakurei turnips | Purple Top turnips |
| Recipe Notes |
| Hakurei turnips are sweeter and more tender than the larger Purple Top turnips, though the latter will work well in this recipe if you can’t find Hakurei. A bouquet garni is a small cheesecloth pouch filled with herbs, tied with string, and added to soups and stews to lend an aromatic flavor. To make, cut a square of cheesecloth approximately four times the size of your hand. Fold in half so the cheesecloth is doubled, and place in a small bowl, allowing the cheesecloth to drape over the edges. Add your herbs to the cheesecloth-lined bowl. Gather the sides up to form a pouch and secure tightly with cooking twine. Gently use tongs to remove from the cooking pot. If you don’t have cheesecloth and cooking twine, you can simply add the bouquet garni herbs to the soup and fish them out at the end. |
