I love the Save feature on Instagram. Every once in a while, I scroll and scroll through all of the items I thought were save-worthy and will see what they are, and even get inspired from them. A few months ago I went through all of the books I saved and added them to my Goodreads account so I'd actually remember to get them from the library. Then there's recipes I saved for inspiration, like one from September 2017 — a roasted root vegetable soup from Amelie's, a French bakery in Charlotte I visit when I'm up there.
I forgot about the soup until a recent scroll through, all the way to 2017 when Instagram must have put in the Save feature. On this particular chilly winter day, the soup caught my attention — specifically the ingredients listed. Turnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, cream, and smoked gouda. It sounds similar to my turnip and rutabaga soup, but with a little more vegetable. Sadly, it's not on their current winter menu, so even if I went up there, I wouldn't be able to get any, so I turned and made my own version at home.
Though this soup isn't quite like Amelie's, including the fact that the root vegetables aren't roasted, and I can't order $20 of macarons to bring home with me, I still love it on it's own merits. In fact, upon tasting it, Patrick said "I wouldn't even add steak sauce or anything to this!" which is basically the highest compliment from his (un)discerning palate.
Oak Smoked Salt
One thing I'd like to mention is the addition of oak smoked salt really elevates this dish. I don't often demand special flourishes in dishes, but I absolutely demand you put oak smoked salt on this. As I was salting the dutch oven filled with soup, my thoughts turned to my small salt collection, and I just knew the oak smoked salt would be perfect here. And it is. Of all of the salts I have, the oak smoked finishing salt gets used the quickest, because it's incredibly flavorful. Get yourself some and you'll become as enamored of it as I am.
Cream of Root Vegetable Soup
Equipment
- Immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup yellow onion diced
- 4 carrots diced
- 3 turnips peeled and diced
- 1 sweet potato peeled and diced
- 6 cups water, chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 ounces smoked gouda shredded
- oak smoked salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the olive oil to a large dutch oven or soup pot and heat over medium heat.
- Saute the onions for about 5 minutes or until they are starting to lightly brown.
- Add in the carrots, turnip, and sweet potato. Stir to coat in oil and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
- Stir the sauteeing vegetables and add in the water or stock. Bring to a boil.
- Once boiled, turn to a medium low and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Add in the bay leaf and thyme right after the boil settles down.
- Remove the bay leaf. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup thoroughly.
- Sprinkle in the cheese, bit by bit, and stir to help it melt evenly.
- Garnish with oak smoked salt and black pepper to taste. I used about ⅓ teaspoon of oak smoked salt in mine.
This recipe is pretty forgiving, so if you say, only have two carrots but also an extra turnip, chop it up and toss it in. Once everything is blended together you won't ever be able to tell, unless you say, leave out an entire type of vegetable. So don't leave out the turnips. They are absolutely filled with vitamin C and fiber, so blend them on in, no one will even notice they're there.
And yes, this soup is absolutely fabulous when reheated, so make a big batch and stay warm!
Looking for other winter warming soups? Try beer cheese soup, vegetable soup, and potato spinach soup!