Roasted Root Vegetable Soup

I bought a half rotisserie turkey breast from the grocery store the other day. It's amazing how far one of those things can go. We had turkey sandwiches to start and the next day I made creamed turkey over noodles with roasted root vegetables. When we were finished eating I had plenty of vegetables left so I pureed them in half batches with a little milk, a sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice and about a tablespoon of brown sugar for each batch. The next day I made the soup.

First make the roasted vegetables. I used three large carrots, two large parsnips, a large onion and peeled and cut up a buttercup squash. I cut the parsnips and carrots into 1 inch pieces, the onion in half, and the squash into larger pieces, about 2 inches or so. I tossed them with a little olive oil, shook a little salt and pepper on them and roasted them in a baking dish at 400° for about 45 minutes. By this time the squash and onion were well done but the carrots and parsnips were a little too firm so I finished those in the microwave for about a minute. Roasting brings out the flavor in vegetables like no other cooking method. Make lots of extra for soup. Rutabaga is also good and roasted beets would make a good borscht.

For the soup I heated the pureed vegetables in the microwave while I brought a cup of chicken broth to boil. Then added the two and brought it up to a simmer. I added a little more salt and a little milk to thin it and voila! It is done.

Cornbread seemed like a must to go with roasted root vegetable soup.