creamy curried parsnip soup with black rice

This soup has a lot of happy memories.

I used to make it a lot when Tom and I were newlyweds, in our tiny basement flat in Pimlico, when the air was freezing, autumn leaves were raked up in proud piles in the streets, it got dark at 3:30pm and parsnips were plentiful.  A £1 bag of them would make a vat of this soup and on dark late autumn and winter nights, we would cosy up on our dilapidated old couch and watch movies, pressing pause so we could return to the kitchen for another ladle. I discovered this soup thanks to Shaheen’s Allotment2Kitchen blog all those years ago but I, in true Phil style, made it my own by adding coconut cream and garam masala. Since moving back to Australia, I’ve adapted it further.

We used to make the soup with wild rice, which I never had a problem finding in supermarkets in the UK, but it doesn’t seem to be a thing here. However, black rice is available and it makes a lovely contrast with the fluoro yellow of the soup. You can just use brown rice if that’s all you can find, but black rice does seem to be widely available in Oz and I think it adds interest, contrast and extra health benefits, as well as being super filling!

Parsnips are a sweet root vegetable so the earthy notes of curry powder and turmeric are a perfect partner. You’ll note I’ve refrained from adding heat here – most unusual – but the natural sweetness of the parsnips combined with the spices and rice are so well balanced I feel that adding another flavour component would throw the whole thing off. But I am, as always, willing to be proven wrong.

Until the other night, I hadn’t made this soup for a very, very long time. I don’t see parsnips available in the shops here very often – another reason I’d like to grow them myself when we eventually have a home with space for a bigger vegetable patch – so it hadn’t been on my radar for a while. But then I saw some proud specimens in the grocers after work one night, and not at an exorbitant price (I do miss being able to buy a kilo of them for £1!), so I grabbed them, with the sudden thought that it might be nice to wander down memory lane and try this soup again.

Such a lot has happened these past ten-and-a-half years, but one spoonful of this warming, comforting soup last night and we were right back there in that little flat, with everything that hadn’t happened yet still to come.

creamy curried parsnip soup with black rice

1 ½ cups black rice (or wild rice, if you can find it. Brown will also do)

Olive oil
2 medium or 1 large brown onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, crushed or finely chopped
4 large parsnips (approximately 1 kilogram), peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 tablespoons curry powder (I use medium)
1 x 400ml can coconut cream
3 teaspoons vegetable or “chicken style” stock powder (I use Massel chicken style)
Enough boiling water to cover

 Place the black rice in a saucepan, add 2 cups water, cover and place on a high heat until it comes to the boil. Reduce to a simmer for approximately 30 minutes until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. Turn off heat, place a tea towel over the top and replace the lid (I always do this with rice, it absorbs any extra moisture and makes it fluffy) to keep warm. Set aside.

 While the rice is cooking, make the soup.

 Put the kettle on to boil. Get a large stockpot out and drizzle a little olive oil on the base, then place on a low heat to heat up. Add the onion and garlic and fry for a few minutes until starting to soften. Add the parsnips, turmeric, garam masala and curry powder and cook for a couple of minutes, until fragrant but not turning brown. You can add water if it’s starting to stick.

Add the tin of coconut cream and stir to combine. I usually swirl out the can with boiling water and add that too, but be careful – boiling water makes cans very hot to touch! You can make up your stock separately in a jug with boiling water from the kettle but I usually don’t bother (don’t want the extra washing up!)  – I add the stock powder to the mixture in the pot and then top up with the boiling water so everything is covered and the stock powder has dissolved.

Either way, everything should now be in the stockpot (except for the rice) so stir well and bring the whole lot to the boil. Turn the heat down once it reaches boiling point, and simmer on a low heat for around 35 minutes, or until the parsnips are tender. My test is to see if they fall apart when pressed with the wooden spoon.

Puree the soup, either with a handheld blender (easiest, as you don’t really have to wait for it to cool down nor reheat it once pureed) or in a food processor, in which case you’ll need to wait for the mixture to cool before blending, and then heat up again before serving.

Taste for seasoning – I find the stock powder (albeit a reduced salt one) is salty enough, but a few turns of the pepper grinder finish it off nicely. To serve, place a large spoonful of black rice in the soup bowl, then ladle the hot silky-smooth parsnip soup on top. Place a sprinkling of black rice on the top to serve.

Ideally, eat in front of the TV on a freezing cold night – it’s guaranteed to make you feel all warm and cosy inside.

spicy ethiopian lentil stew

Tasmania is clearly not ready to welcome summer just yet, based on the cold, wet and windy days we’ve been having in Hobart recently. I am beginning to think I took the winter sheets off the bed too soon!

But on the plus side, it means all the lovely comforting and warming dishes we’ve been enjoying over the autumn and winter can stay on the menu a little longer.

Ethiopian Berbere spice is one of my absolute favourites to cook with - when the spice hits the hot pan and combines with browning onions and oil, the smell is just incredible. And, bizarrely, it triggered a memory for me - it took a while for me to realise that the dominant spices (cumin, fenugreek, pepper and cardamom) remind me of my grandparents home when I was a child. They had lived in southeastern Africa for a time and so often cooked meals like this one. It’s lovely to have my kitchen smelling like theirs did!

You can buy Berbere at any specialist spice store - my favourite is by Gewürzhaus.

This delicious stew would traditionally be served with that wonderful spongy Ethiopian bread injera, but if you can’t get that, any other flatbread is a fine accompaniment (I like chappati). Just make sure there’s plenty of it, because you’ll want to soak up that sauce!

Spicy Ethiopian lentil stew (berber)

Serves 4

Olive or coconut oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or 2 teaspoons ready-minced garlic
2 teaspoons ready-minced ginger
4 medium potatoes (roughly 145 g each), chopped into chunks or 600 g baby potatoes, halved or left whole
2 tablespoons Berbere spice blend (reduce to 1 tablespoon if you prefer it milder)
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional, but I like the extra spiciness)
250 g red lentils
1 x 420 g can plum tomatoes
Vegetable stock powder
Water to cover (roughly four cans worth)
A few handfuls of fresh spinach, to finish
Salt and pepper, to taste

Put the kettle on to boil.

In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium then saute the onion, garlic and ginger until starting to soften. Add the potatoes and spices, and a little water if you need it, then stir everything so the potatoes are well coated in the spices, and allow to cook and release the aromas for a minute or two. Don’t let the spices burn, add water if it’s getting a bit dry.

Add the lentils and tomatoes, then rinse out the can with water from the kettle and add that too. I then usually use the can to make up the vegetable stock that I need to cover the dry ingredients. Be careful, because adding boiling water to a tin can makes the sides very hot. I have asbestos hands from years of cooking but even I find the heat a bit intense at times! If you’re a bit more sensible than I, make up your vegetable stock in a jug with water from the kettle (around 3 cups). Add this to the pot.

Stir, breaking up the tomatoes a bit, and ensure there is sufficient liquid to cook the potatoes and lentils in. Then bring to a boil, reduce the heat, place a lid on top and simmer for around 20 minutes or until the potatoes and lentils are cooked. I like to cook them until you can break the lentils are creamy and the potatoes break easily with the spoon.

When everything is cooked, add the spinach, turn off the heat and replace the lid on the pot. Leave for a few minutes until the spinach has wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes I add a squeeze of lemon juice too (not traditional, just to aid with iron absorption from the spinach!)

Serve in bowls with some warm flatbread or chappatis on the side. I find I don’t need rice with this but it would be a delicious alternative to flatbreads if you don’t have them.

No matter the temperature outside, this scrumptious stew will warm your insides a treat! And once you’ve tried it, I’m sure you'll find any excuse to make it again….and, like me, ensure you have Berbere in your pantry at all times.

fennel and butter bean stew

It might be spring during the day here, but it’s still winter at night! With a fat bulb of fennel in one hand and a can of butter beans in the other, I concocted this stew yesterday evening as the temperature dropped and rain lashed at the windows. I was craving warmth, flavour and comfort. A lot to ask from one bowl of food, you might think, but this dish delivered on all fronts! It’s also full of fibre, which is a great bonus.

It’s perfect bowl food in front of the TV but I think it would be snazzy enough to serve to guests too, especially with a lovely glass of wine alongside.

If you think you don’t like fennel, I would urge you to give this a try. It becomes mellow, sweet and juicy and soaks up the nutty and buttery flavours of the sauce beautifully.

Mash is the obvious accompaniment - I made mine with a handful of grated Parmesan in, to give a little extra salty richness, which rounded off everything nicely. You could also serve it with couscous, gnocchi or lightly toasted thick slices of sourdough. Either way, you’ll want something to soak up all that delicious sauce, trust me!

Fennel and butter bean stew with capers

Serves 4

Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large celery stick (including leaves if you like), finely chopped
1 large fennel bulb, chopped into bite-size pieces (save the fronds for garnish)
4-5 large pieces of silverbeet or chard (chop the stems and leaves, then separate and use the stems in the early part of the cooking and save the leaves for adding last)
8-10 sundried tomato halves, plus a little of their oil
1 x 420 g can butter beans, drained
2 bay leaves, preferably fresh
Needles from 1 large sprig fresh rosemary
50 g unsalted butter
A large splash of sherry (the kind you’d drink in Seville with tapas!), or white or red wine, even red wine vinegar would be OK
2-3 cups stock (I use the vegan Massel ‘chicken’ stock)
2 tablespoons capers
Salt and pepper

Fill your kettle and put it on to boil.

Get a large casserole or saute pan - I use my Le Creuset casserole dish - and add a splash of olive oil and place over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, celery, fennel pieces and chopped silverbeet stalks and cook until they start to soften.

Add the sundried tomatoes halves plus a little drizzle of their oil, the drained butter beans, bay leaves and rosemary needles, and turn the heat up slightly, stirring everything to combine. Add the butter, turn the heat up a little more. Make your stock from the boiling water from the kettle.

Once the butter is melting/melted and the pan is very hot, add a generous splash or two of sherry or whatever alcohol you have to hand. It should sizzle most satisfyingly! Stir quickly to coat everything and make sure nothing is sticking or starting to get too brown - turn the heat down if so.

Otherwise, add your stock, stir everything well and allow the pot to come to the boil, then reduce right down to a simmer. Add salt and pepper if you like (I often do it here and at the end). Stir one more time to ensure nothing is caught at the bottom and then put the lid on and set your timer for 20 minutes.

Make your mash while the stew is cooking.

After 20 minutes, add the capers and chopped silverbeet/chard leaves, and stir well to wilt the leaves. Allow to simmer another minute or two, taste for seasoning and then get your ladle out, ready to serve!

Serve alongside mash or whatever sponge for the delicious sauce you’ve decided on. Prepare to be wowed!

tinned tomato risotto

Super comforting, nourishing, delicious and on the table in less than half an hour. What more could you want from a bowl of food, I ask you?

If you have arborio rice and a tin of tomatoes in the pantry, you can make this. And once you make it, I’m sure you’ll make it again and again!

You can, of course, use fresh tomatoes in place of tinned if you prefer and have them handy, but personally I find the slightly concentrated flavour of the tinned ones adds so much to the richness of the dish - and evokes the canned tomato soup flavour of childhood that many of us find very comforting. In these strange times, comfort is something to prioritise, not just in cooking.

You don’t need to add cheese if you don’t have any or prefer not to, but little cherry bocconcini are a particularly good addition - a forkful of creamy, sweet and tangy rice combined with those delicious strings of melted mozzarella, it’s like a margarita pizza in a bowl!

Tinned tomato risotto

Serves 4 moderate appetites or 2 extremely hungry bushwalkers

Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
A few large silverbeet stalks, chopped (reserve the leaves for later) [this is optional, I grow silverbeet so put it in everything]
2-3 teaspoons dried oregano and basil, or to taste
50g butter
2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
Splash of red wine, white wine or cooking sherry (or even red wine vinegar at a push)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 x 420g tin peeled plum tomatoes
1 litre boiling hot vegetable stock, plus a little extra
Spinach leaves, silverbeet leaves, fresh basil or oregano, to serve
A handful of cherry bocconcini (or substitute any other cheese you have, ricotta is very nice)
A handful of grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Fill your kettle and put it on to boil.

Get a large saute pan - I use my Le Creuset shallow casserole dish, but I have made this kind of risotto in a stockpot before, just make sure you have a lid - and add a splash of olive oil and place over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and chopped silverbeet stalks and cook until they start to soften.

Add your dried herbs and butter, and once the butter has melted but not coloured, add the rice and turn up the heat. Get the rice coated in the butter. Keep an eye on everything so it doesn’t start to stick or burn but it’s crucial to have the heat high at this point.

Add a generous splash of wine and the pan should sizzle! Stir quickly to coat everything. Add the tomato paste and tin of tomatoes. You can use whatever tinned tomatoes you have but I prefer the whole plum ones because they have great flavour. You can break the tomatoes down with your wooden spoon as you stir.

Get your stock made and then pour a splash into the pan, as you would normally with a risotto. Stir well. Then add the rest of the boiling hot stock, maybe even rinse out the tomato can with boiling water and add that too. You can always cook excess liquid off, but a risotto with insufficient liquid is a disaster!

Stir well, ensure the rice and tomato mixture is entirely covered by hot stock and liquid. Bring to the boil. Add salt and pepper if you like (I often do it here and at the end). Stir one more time to ensure nothing is caught at the bottom and then reduce the heat to a simmer, put the lid on and set your timer for 20 minutes.

This is very unlike the traditional method of making risotto, but once you’ve successfully mastered cooking it this way, you’ll never go back!

You can come back and stir it occasionally if you like, but otherwise after 20 minutes it will be pretty much there. The liquid should have reduced (you still want some liquid, you don’t want it completely dry) and the rice should be tender.

Turn the heat off. Add your green leaves and fresh herbs and any cheese you’re using, and stir through to melt the cheese and wilt the leaves. You can leave it with the lid on again for a few minutes to do this if you like.

Taste and season, serve in wide bowls with a scattering of Parmesan on top and a few basil leaves if you have them.

Deeply satisfying and delicious, this risotto (or a variation thereof) makes an appearance at our table at least once a week. I hope you love it as much as we do!

tomato, caper and mint spaghetti

Tom and I were watching a Rick Stein show where he was in Sicily. He didn’t cook this dish but mentioned a pasta he’d once enjoyed in Palermo, simply made with tomatoes, capers and mint. I’ve never managed to find a recipe for it anywhere, but it sounded so delicious I simply had to give it a try. And it was as amazing as it sounded.

That was a few years ago now and this is still one of our most favourite pasta dishes. Sometimes I’ll just say “Rick’s pasta?” to Tom when it’s getting close to dinner time, and his eyes light up!

It’s best made with long pasta - in the picture I think I’ve used fresh tagliatelle, but I’m particularly partial to linguine. You can add chilli - I sometimes do - but this pasta doesn’t even need Parmesan, truth be told. The capers are punchy and acidic, the mint is fresh and savoury, the tomatoes are sweet. It’s just glorious.

I hope you like it as much as we do!

Tomato, caper and mint spaghetti

Enough for 2, with room for dessert

250 g spaghetti (or any other long pasta)
Good quality extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
Roughly 250 g cherry tomatoes, or larger truss tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size (use as much as you like, this is just a guide)
Roughly 5 tablespoons capers (from a jar) (and again, use as much as you like - we love capers so add about half the jar!)
1 small bunch fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Put a stockpot of salted water on to boil and cook the pasta according to packet instructions or desired al dente-ness.

Get a large saute pan - I use my Le Creuset shallow casserole dish - and cover the base in olive oil, adding enough for the tomatoes to paddle in. Add the garlic cloves.

Place the pan on a medium heat and allow to heat slowly. Once you hear the garlic sizzling, carefully add the cherry tomatoes (I leave them whole, but you could halve them). Turn the heat down, put the lid on and allow the tomatoes to cook gently in the oil for about 10 minutes, roughly the same time it will take the pasta to cook. Check on them occasionally. You don’t want them to be mushy and breaking down too much, just soft.

You can remove the garlic at this stage if you prefer, but I usually leave it in. Add the capers to the tomatoes, and a bit of salt and pepper. You could also add a splash of white wine if you have any handy.

Once your pasta is ready, using tongs, carefully lift the cooked pasta out of the stockpot and into the tomato and caper pan. The water clinging to the pasta will help make a lovely sauce.

Once you have all your pasta in the tomato pan, turn up the heat slightly, add the chopped mint, and toss everything through with the tongs so that the pasta is completely coated in the tomatoes, capers, mint and oil. Everything should be beautifully combined. It shouldn’t be dry but if it is, add another splash of the pasta cooking water.

Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Heap into waiting bowls and eat immediately - as if you’d want to do anything else!

I have made this with basil and parsley before when I only had a sad lone sprig of mint from my garden and it’s still delicious - but do make this with just mint at least once as it’s sublime. I just adore mint, it’s one of my favourite herbs and gives such a beautiful flavour to everything from salads and grilled vegetables to slices of grilled halloumi.