fracas

Though last week fracas asked you to choose whether you like to eat male or female (eggplant), this week is all about inspiring you to get back to your roots.

Vegetables, that is.

There’s nothing like fall to inspire hearty stews and soups made from an abundance of hearty root vegetables, and this week, Friday Food Porn is all about getting back to your roots… only I’m not exactly sure which root.

It’s a strange little photo, and I’m not sure exactly where I found it, either. I’ve had it sitting in my images folder for some time, and it’s always been left buried there because frankly, I’ve never been able to decide what I think it is. It looks like it could actually be a few different vegetables (albeit grown a bit on the wild side).

Never to fail me, is WordPress to my rescue.

This week, they’ve launched for all we happy bloggers on WordPress.com, a poll feature added right to our dashboards. Indeed! All we have to do is click it into our posts like we would an image… and so this for me, has solved my problem of figuring out exactly which root this week’s feature is. You get to help me! Please vote for what you think this week’s Friday Food Porn item actually is.

Now that you’ve done that, go ahead and cook up this week’s recipe. After all… no matter which it is, you can always toss it into the pot anyway; that’s the beauty of soups and stews!

Hearty Rutabaga, Carrot, Parsnip and Sausage Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 ounces smoked turkey sausage, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1 large onion, chopped
3 small parsnips, peeled, diced
1 medium rutabaga, peeled, diced
1 large carrot, peeled, diced
1 14 1/2-ounce can beef broth
1 14 1/2-ounce can chicken broth

1/4 cup half and half
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
Salt and pepper

Heat oil in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add sausage and sauté until brown on all sides, about 7 minutes. Transfer to plate using slotted spoon. Add onion to saucepan. Reduce heat to medium and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add parsnips, rutabaga and carrot and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broths. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 40 minutes.

Purée soup in batches in processor. Return to saucepan. Mix in half and half and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Add sausage. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.) Heat through. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Fraccy Tips:

1. Omit the final step and serve it chunky style.
2. Omit the final step to serve chunky style, and thicken with a paste of flour and broth. Now… you have a stew! 

If you’re looking for other Food Porn Recipes to use up your evidence veggies… head over here. It’s like there’s a party in the veggie drawer, and you’re invited!

[Recipe Source]

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