Roasted Root Vegetable Soup with White Beans

This is a great soup for a cold winter day. Roasting the veggies first makes them a little sweeter and adds more depth to the flavor. Feel free to change around the veggies if you have anything else that might work - a rutabega, more or less of various veggies - it's pureed, so you can really experiment. I added the white beans to make it a little creamier, but you can omit if you want.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 leeks, rinsed and halved, dark leaves cut off

3 cloves garlic

1 turnip, peeled and cut into pieces

1/2 a small butternut squash, peeled and cut into pieces

1 carrot, peeled and thickly sliced

1 small red potato, peels and cut into pieces

1 medium yellow onion, quartered and peeled

1 parsnip, peeled and thickly sliced

1 cup canned white beans

1 quart chicken stock

a couple sprigs fresh thyme (are a big pinch dried thyme)

salt and pepper

olive oil

3 tbsp butter

pinch cayenne pepper

water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450. Put vegetables and thyme on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast until the vegetables are tender and starting to brown (about half an hour).

Add to a pot and cover with chicken stock. Add beans and bring to a boil.

Return to a simmer and cook until the carrots are super tender, about 10 minutes.

Puree in a food processor, adding water to thin it a bit.

This step is optional, but makes for a smoother soup. Push the soup through a fine mesh sieve. Return the soup to the pot and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Add the butter and stir to melt. (You don't need to do this if you want to be a littler healthier, but it's delicious.)

And that's it! Great soup and keeps well for a few days in the fridge. If you want to freeze it, just don't add the butter until you reheat it. Goes very well with a gooey fontina grilled cheese.