So it is not so much of a ‘tale’ but more a duo of fantastic recipes inspired by fantastic root vegetables that are abundant at this time of year.

The first recipe is a celebration of root veg that I like to call ‘Wonder Roots’ soup; packed full of flavour, vitamins and veggie goodness. The second recipe is something I created back in October for the Portobello ‘Apple Festival’ and it went down a storm with visitors to the market over 2 days… and I’m sharing both recipes with you!

Parsnip and Apple Soup

8 parsnips, peeled and diced into small pieces
4 apples (Cox, Braeburn or any variety ideal, just not cooking apples), peeled & diced
2 small onions, peeled and roughly diced
800ml of full fat or semi-skimmed milk
400ml of water
Olive oil
Maldon sea salt
Black pepper

In a large pan, sauté the onions with a good drizzle of olive oil over a medium heat (low/medium if you are using gas) and stir well to ensure they don’t brown but instead become translucent. Then add in your parsnip and apple pieces and cook them until the parsnip starts to soften (The apple will become soft much faster than the parsnip).

Once softened, add the water and roughly 1/3 of the milk, season well with salt and pepper and cover with lid and allow to boil for approximately 30 minutes (stirring every 10 minutes to prevent sticking) then check to see if the parsnip is cooked and if so, using a hand blender, blitz the vegetables until smooth, adding the rest of the milk into the pan and keep blitzing until smooth and even. If you want to achieve a thinner consistency, just add more water or milk and adjust seasoning to taste.

‘Wonder Roots’ Soup

1 whole head of celeriac, peeled and cut into centimetre cubes
3 beetroots, peeled and diced into centimetre cubes
4 carrots, chopped into inch thick slices
2 small onions, peeled and roughly diced
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
Water (enough to cover the vegetables plus more to thin out the consistency once pureed)
Olive oil
Maldon sea salt
Black pepper

In a large pot, sauté the onions with a good drizzle of olive oil over a medium heat (low/medium if you are using gas) and stir well to ensure they don’t brown but instead become translucent. Then add in the celeriac, beetroot and carrots and dried thyme and cook them until the begin to soften.

Once softened, add enough water to just about cover the vegetables, season well with salt and pepper, cover pot with lid and allow to boil for approximately 30 minutes (stirring every 10 minutes to prevent sticking) then check to see if the vegetables are cooked through and if so, using a hand blender, blitz the vegetables until smooth. Add more water to the mixture and keep blitzing until you achieve the desired consistency and adjust seasoning to taste.