A few weeks back Parsnips were half price (54p for 500g) at my local supermarket.
Picked up a couple of bags to roast but realised there was too much to use at once and they probably wouldn't keep so I came up with the following.
Roast up 500g of parsnips and a couple of carrots with a knob of butter and a tablespoon or two of honey until golden brown. Takes about 20-25 minutes but all ovens are different.
Throw in half a large diced onion and add in fresh herbs, I used Rosemary and Thyme and put back in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, you don't want the onion to burn, just to soften up. Season as well.
In the meantime fry or grill a rasher of bacon, get it nice and crispy. Chop up into small pieces and add to the roasting tray, mix in and put back in oven for 5 or 10 minutes. I guess you could use left over pork/gammon.
Take out of the oven and pop into a large pan and add in a pint of vegetable stock, simmer for a while and then let cool.
Whizz up in a blender re-heat and serve. The parsnip seems to soak up a lot of the stock so add more if needed. I don't bother straining it to get it smooth as you waste food that way.
I got 4 bowls out of the above and total cost was around 1.50 pound (don't have a pound sign sorry) for the whole lot and it fills you up a treat.
If you want croutons... I fried up some left over dry bread in a touch of oil and garlic until crispy.
I used up both bags of parsnips for soup so in the end 3 pounds (Money) got us 8 bowls, so that was lunch sorted for most of the week. If you leave the soup til the next day it gets sweeter so I would suggest that if you don't have a sweet tooth, eat it all on day one or use less honey to roast with.
Real taste of winter and a bargain to boot. If you want to keep it vegetarian don't add the bacon, perhaps use some toasted walnuts?? or leave it parsnip only.
I'm hungry now....