Isn’t it strange how foods that you hated as a child become foods you love as an adult? I used to hate spicy food, now I like tabasco straight from a spoon, I used to hate sweet potato and now I love it more than potato, and I used to hate blue cheese and now I use it whenever most people would use plain cheeses.

This soup is quite similar to a leek and potato soup but much more interesting. K loves this soup so much he does a happy dance if I mention that I’m going to make it.

If you still hate blue cheese as much as I still hate Brussels sprouts, you could try other cheeses or some cream.

Parsnip and Blue Cheese Soup
Serves 6-8

2 onions, finely diced
1tbs oil
800g potato, in chunky cubes
800g parsnips, in chunky cubes
2 bay leaves
1L stock, vegetable or chicken stock
3tbs butter
3tbs plain flour
1 ½ cups of milk
200g of blue cheese
Salt to taste

Fry the onion in the oil until soft.

Once the onion is soft, add the potato, parsnip, bay leaves and stock to the pot and then add water until the vegetables are just covered with liquid. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the potato is soft enough to squash with the back of a spoon. Use either a blender or stick blender to puree the soup.

Make a roux with the butter and flour by melting the butter and then adding the flour, using a whisk to stir it over a medium heat until the mixture is bubbly. Then slowly whisk in the milk allowing it to slightly thicken in between each addition of each half cup of milk. Once the milk is all incorporated in the pot, break the blue cheese into about 6 pieces and add it to the white sauce, keep whisking over a moderate heat until the cheese is all melted through.

Add the blue cheese sauce to the blended vegetable and stir until incorporated. Add salt to taste, I find it doesn’t usually need any salt because of the cheese.

Find a sunny spot to sit and eat soup for lunch on a cold day.