Golden roasted thyme parsnip and carrot soup with smoked tofu cubes

INGREDIENTS (3 portions):

Soup ingrediens:

• 500g parsnips
• 200g carrots
• 2 leeks
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 1 1/2 tsp garlic granules (or minced garlic)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard (optional)
• 750ml water

Smoked tofu cubes ingredients:

• 150 - 200g smoked tofu
• Smoked paprika powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder (or minced garlic)
• Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 200C (400F).

Peel the parsnips and carrots and chop up into roughly evenly heavy chunks. Cut off the ends of a leek and also cut into chunks.

Place them on a baking tray lined with aluminium foil and season with garlic granules, a generous amount of salt, black pepper, thyme (just the small leaves, remove the hard stems), lemon juice and some olive oil. Mix together by hand to make sure everything is covered well with oil and seasoning.

Put them into the oven for 45 minutes.

When they're finished, take them out and put into a heat resistant blender. Add 750ml of water and an optional 1tsp of Dijon mustard (I find it adds the little bit of extra layer of flavour). Blend until you get a smooth mixture.

Then pour it into a soup pan and cook for a few more minutes so the flavours can develop nicely. Add more water if necessary and salt, pepper and garlic to taste if it needs fine-tuning.

In the meantime cut the smoked tofu into small cubes. I always add extra smoked paprika powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste to give it a more intense taste. Sauté in some oil until the cubes get a nice brown colour.

Serve the soup and garnish with the tofu cubes. Enjoy!

And if you like delicious soup why not try mycourgette and red pepper soup with toasted almonds.