Winter White Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, minced
  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • 1/3 small head cauliflower, chopped
  • 1 small parsnip, chopped
  • 10 small button mushrooms, chopped
  • 1 pear, peeled, cored and diced
  • 1/2 cup cannellini beans
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill
  • 3/4 cup Chardonnay wine
  • 6 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 (14.5 ounce) can fat-free chicken broth
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup fat-free chicken broth (optional)

Cooking Instructions

Step 1: Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over low heat. Stir in the garlic, shallots, and ginger, and cook until fragrant but not brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the green onions, cauliflower, parsnip, and mushrooms, and cook and stir an additional 5 minutes. Add the pear, beans, mustard, and dill, and stir just until heated, about 1 minute.

Step 2: Stir in the wine and thyme, and turn up the heat to high. Boil, stirring constantly, until the wine is reduced by half and is syrupy, about 5 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth. Return the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, partly covered, until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Allow the soup to cool slightly.

Step 3: Pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot.

Step 4: Stir in cream, and if needed, thin with additional chicken broth; serve hot.  You may wish to serve this soup the next day.  It will improve in taste with time.

Enjoy this creamy, perfect-for-winter soup from AllRecipes!