Kohlrabi Soup

We enjoyed this soup very much. For once we are getting a good crop of kohlrabies - they seem to be one of the few vegetables in our garden to do well in this cool, rainy summer.

Mum came over and helped us eat this. She commented that her vegetable soups always seem to come out bland but this one had lots of flavour. That is a hazard with vegetable soups, and the solution is pretty simple: sharpen it up. Be sure to use enough salt - the amount of salt a pot of soup will absorb is a little disconcerting, but you are really going to miss it if it is not there. Ginger adds another shot of sharpness, and so does the vinegar. You don't really notice any of these flavours particularly when you are eating the soup, but now the vegetables sing together instead of sitting there in sullen silence.

6 to 8 servings
1 hour - 45 minutes prep time

1 medium carrot
1 stalk of celery
2 medium onions
3 medium or 2 large kohlrabies
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon rubbed savory
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 cups unsalted chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Peel and grate the carrot. Wash, trim, and chop the celery. Peel and chop the onions. Trim the greens off the kohlrabies and set them aside. Peel the kohlrabies and grate them - it is easiest if you leave a little of the stem/peel at one end to give you a handle.

Heat the butter in a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the chopped and grated vegetables and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until softened and reduced in volume considerably.

Sprinkle the flour and seasonings  over the vegetables and mix in well. Cook for another 5 minutes or so, stirring regularly to prevent it from sticking. At this point, begin mixing the stock in slowly, stirring between each addition to avoid letting the flour form lumps. Once it is all in, mix in the apple cider vinegar.

If you wish - and unless your greens are in very poor condition you probably do - discard any bad or tough leaves and stems from the greens, and wash and chop the remainder very finely. Add them to the soup. 

Let the soup simmer, stirring occasionally, for another 10 or 15 minutes before serving. Check and add a bit more salt if needed first.




Last year at this time I made Chicken in Roasted Red Pepper Sauce.

Posted in: Ontario Food