Parsnip and Rosemary Soup with Toasted Hazelnuts (Vegan, Gluten-free, Grain-free, Soya-free, Nut-free option)

A sumptuous, warming winter soup with sweet, earthy parsnips, fragrant rosemary and with some added crunch from a scattering of toasted hazelnuts. This soup is really easy to make and even easier to eat – perfect when you need a bit of nourishment and comfort.

A bowl of parsnip and rosemary soup, on a light blue floral patterned place mat with a spoon to the right, a hint of a napkin, and some sprigs of rosemary on the left. The soup is smooth and a warm, pale orange in colour. It's scattered with toasted crushed hazelnuts, and few rosemary leaves.

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It is January, it’s freezing cold, in the UK we are in our third lockdown, and I have essentially gone in to hibernation mode. Lots of sleep, lots of blankets, very warm socks, and lovely, hearty, comforting food to provide a bit of brightness on even the most miserable of days.

This parsnip soup is ideal; it’s really simple to make, packed full of vegetables, thick and smooth, and utterly delicious. A drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of toasted hazelnuts are a great accompaniment to add a bit of texture, and if you don’t have hazelnuts then walnuts would work, as would sunflower or pumpkin seeds for a nut-free option. I would recommend serving this with big slabs of sourdough smothered vegan butter, possibly while still in your pyjamas.

I am not one to adhere to strict quantities or even ingredients when it comes to soup, taking more of a chuck everything in that needs using up sort of approach, but for this you really want the parsnip flavour to sing through. However I’ll give options for substitutions you can make for the other ingredients so use can use what you have.

How to make parsnip and rosemary soup

A close-up of the soup. The bowl is a dark blue which contrasts with the sunny orange of the soup. The soup is smooth and velvety, and you can see the swirls of drizzled olive oil beneath the floating crushed and toasted hazelnuts.

As with most soups, alliums are a good place to start. I used a medium sized brown onion, but you could use a red onion instead, a couple of leeks, some shallots, or a bunch of spring onions (whites only). Roughly chop them and add to a large saucepan over a medium heat, with some olive oil. You don’t want them to brown, just soften, so turn the heat down if it looks like they’re starting to catch.

While the onions are sizzling away, roughly chop a couple of sticks of celery, and peel and roughly chop a small carrot and two cloves of garlic. These will provide a few extra layers of flavour in the background. If you don’t have celery you could sub in a leek, if you aren’t using them already, and you could just add a bit more parsnip in place of the carrot. If you’re out of garlic, half a teaspoon of garlic granules would work instead, or leave them out. I chop and add the vegetables to the pan as I go, but always leave the garlic until the onions are completely soft and just starting to get a little colour. At this point add the garlic and stir for a couple of minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Make up some vegetable stock and pour this into your saucepan, giving everything a good stir. Peel and roughly chop your parsnips and add these in, along with 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 tsp dried rosemary. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer for 25–30 minutes until everything is completely soft. Whizz with a stick blender, or whatever else you have, until completely smooth.

For the toasted hazelnuts

You can buy hazelnuts pre-toasted, in which case just give them a bash in a pestle and mortar, or put them in a bag or wrap in some kitchen paper and smack a few times with a rolling pin.

If you have raw hazelnuts, you can toast these in a frying pan over a medium heat until the skins are starting to peel and char, about 7–8 minutes, or put them in a hot oven (about 180C fan) for 6–7 minutes. Tip the hot hazelnuts into a tea-towel, bring the edges of the tea-towel together and rub the hazelnuts vigorously to loosen their skins. Extract the toasted hazelnuts and bash away. If there are still a few scraps of skin remaining that’s fine, it’s pretty much impossible to get rid of all of it. And if you’re using walnuts, sunflower seeds or pumpkins seeds, these just need toasting in a dry frying pan until they’re starting to brown slightly.

To serve, put a couple of ladles of soup in a bowl, drizzle over a little olive oil and scatter over the crushed nuts or seeds. Add a few chunks of your favourite bread on the side and you have a deliciously warming, wintery meal.

Please let me know if you give this a try! You can comment below or find me on Twitter or Instagram @greedybearbakes.