Middle Ages Peasant Soup

The weather in Seattle has a taken a turn for the winter. I hear it has been doing the same across the rest of the country as well, so now is the perfect time for hearty foodstuffs, such as soup. 


Now, I know that there are people out there who do not believe in soup as a meal. Whatever, I say to you, it totally is. Granted, there is definitely a hierarchy of soup insofar as  satiety is concerned. You know, broth being at the bottom and something like stew being closer to the top. This soup is a contender for one of the higher positions. 


Now, the reason I have given it such a strange name is because of what I put into it: root vegetables and beer. Exactly the type of fare a peasant in the Middle Ages would have eaten, although most likely not at all in the same form. 

Lis brought over these adorably weird and fun purple potatoes, so of course these were in the soup. I was hoping they would turn it a great scifi color, but the carrots we threw in dominated the color palette instead. 

The potatoes were roasted in olive oil with carrots, onions, garlic, celery root and hickory salt, black pepper and cayenne, then pureed (using my new immersion blender!) with a bottle of Hoptober Ale and chicken broth. (Substitute the chicken broth for vegetable broth and you have a great vegan recipe.) Topped with a little lemon juice, basalmic vinegar and a good sharp cheese, this was a great meal for a cold and dark winter night.  

This is definitely a recipe I am looking forward to perfecting. And should you want to make it even more authentically peasant-like, serve with a brown bread and a side of meat, preferably something roasted over an open flame.