Winter Vegetable Soup
If you’ve been following along on Facebook, you may be aware that I received a new French Farmhouse cookbook for Christmas. I have to thank my sister-in-law for this gift, because I’m somewhat obsessed with it. I don’t normally read through cookbooks like novels, but I keep picking this one up and flipping through the pages. There is just so much interesting information about various ingredients and the author’s travels through France. And after the success of this winter vegetable soup, I can tell you I’ll be making plenty of recipes out of it!
I was a little intimidated by this recipe to begin with. It’s incredibly easy to make – chop vegetables, cover with water, cook. But, the actual vegetables are not ones I normally cook with – rutabagas, celery root, Jerusalem artichokes. (For those who, like me, need to wikipedia that last one, it’s a root vegetable, also called a sunchoke). However, I dutifully raided the vegetable section at my local grocery store, managed to find everything except the Jerusalem artichoke, and set to work. And let me tell you, this soup is wonderful! I seriously can’t figure out why it’s so good, but we couldn’t get enough of it. Even Mike loved it, and I guarantee if I’d told him what was in it, he would not have wanted to eat it. It’s light and fresh and flavorful, and once you stir in some creme fraiche (don’t worry, I included a recipe!), it becomes just the slightest bit creamy. Please make this – and then report back and tell me how in the world it tastes so good!
Winter Vegetable Soup
Yield: 4-6 servings
Ingredients:
1 small celery root, trimmed, peeled, and finely chopped
1/2 rutabaga, trimmed, peeled, and finely chopped
2 medium Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and finely chopped
3 small russet-type potatoes, peeled and finely chopped
5 medium leeks, white part and 1 inch of green, well rinsed and finely chopped
3 stems parsley
2 bay leaves
1 green leek leaf
8 fresh thyme sprigs
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
6-8 Tbsp creme Fraiche (recipe below)
Creme Fraiche:
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 Tablespoons buttermilk
Directions:
Place all the celery root, rutabaga, artichokes, potatoes and leeks in a large stockpot and add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Use cheesecloth to make a bouquet garni with the parsley, bay leaves, leek leaf and thyme. Add to the pot. Add 1 tsp salt, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the vegetables are very soft, about 1 1/2 hours.
Remove the bouquet garni and puree the soup. Adjust the seasoning, adding pepper to taste. Stir in the creme fraiche when ready to serve, approximately 1 Tbsp per serving.
For the creme fraiche: Whisk the cream and buttermilk together in a medium-sized bowl. Cover with a tea towel and let stand in a warm spot until it starts to thicken, 8-12 hours. Cover and refrigerate for several hours until thickened. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
from the French Farmhouse Cookbook
Welcome! I'm Megan and it's my hope that here you'll find food that has been made with love and recipes that are shared with joy. Thanks for stopping by! 
This looks so warm and comforting! Will absolutely be adding this to my dinner menu this weekend. Yum!
OooOOoooo, what a lovely looking soup!
This sounds interesting and something I could do when we have soup suppers at church. You said you couldn’t find the Jerusalem artichokes – what did you do then? Replace them with the regular variety, or omit them completely? Just curious.
I left them out since I had no idea what to replace them with. I didn’t even know what they were until I looked them up on wikipedia 🙂
how funny, i saw a recipe for winter vegetable soup this weekend on the food network and have it on our menu for this week. but this version is completely different (potatoes, corn, carrots, etc). now i’ll have to try ’em both!
Keep the soups coming along! I love this one!
Wow that soup sounds so comforting and delicious. I love that you are using all of the veggies in season. Beautiful pictures too! I find it so hard to photograph soup!! 🙂
So glad you’re enjoying the book so much!! That makes me so happy! This soup also happens to look wonderfully comforting and enjoyable. Do you think Brian would like it? 😉
This looks like something my family would love.
Such a great recipe. I’m all about winter soups right now and this is perfect!
This sounds like the kind of soup my grandmother would make for us when I was growing up, it was always so comforting and delicious. I must make this!
I love this one! This looks so warm and comforting!
It’s a shame you couldn’t find the Jerusalem artichokes – they are SO good roasted! Just a little salt and olive oil…yum. However, those with sensitive tummies should know that they have the nickname “fartichokes” for a reason…