Parsley Root Soup with Apples and Walnuts

(recipe, Marcus Samuelsson)

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Introduction

This wonderfully warming winter soup pushes the culinary envelope, using a variety of ingredients rarely seen in the American kitchen — parsley root, barberries, and sunchokes — along with the comfortably familiar flavors of apples and walnuts. If you can’t find parsley root, try substituting the more readily available salsify, parsnip, or celery root.

Ingredients

¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
½ cup coarsely chopped walnuts
2 Tbsp. dried barberries
3 garlic cloves, chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1½ tsp. walnut oil
1 apple, peeled, cored, and finely diced
1 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups peeled and diced parsley root
1 cup peeled and diced sunchokes
½ tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. garam masala
½ tsp. salt
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups chicken stock
3 cups water

Steps

Heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat. Add the walnuts and sauté until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Add the barberries, 1 teaspoon of the garlic, and half the lemon juice, and heat for 30 seconds. Drizzle in the walnut oil and remove from the heat. Let cool to room temperature, then stir in the apples, parsley, and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Heat the ¼ cup olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the parsley root, sunchokes, turmeric, cumin, garam masala, salt, and the remaining garlic, and sauté until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cream, chicken stock, and water, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the parsley root and sunchokes are tender, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a blender and purée until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in the remaining lemon juice.
To serve, divide the soup among six shallow soup bowls. Add a spoonful of the walnut-barberry garnish in the middle of each bowl.