Austrian garlic cream soup

Ingredients

For the vegetable broth

• 2500 ml water
• 1 medium carrot (100 g)
• 1 medium parsnip (150 g)
• 1 medium parsley root (100 g)
• 1 medium potato (150 g)
• 1 small celeriac (300 g)
• 1 medium onion (150 g)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the cream soup

• 20 large garlic cloves
• 1 medium onion (150 g)
• 40 g butter
• 200 g sour cream with 40% fat
• 16 g flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

To serve

• 100 g potato bread croutons
• 30 g grated parmesan
• 15 ml lemon juice (optional)
• 80 g bacon (optional)
• 10 g parsley

Preparation

1. Take the sour cream out of the fridge 15 minutes ahead. Peel and wash the carrot, parsnip, parsley root, potato, celeriac and onion for the soup. Cut them into pieces and put them in a pot with 2500 ml water and 1/4 teaspoon salt. 2. Boil the vegetables uncovered over medium heat for 75 minutes, until tender and 1 liter of broth remains. Remove the vegetables, set aside a few pieces of each, and blend them with all the broth. 3. Peel and chop the onion for the soup. Peel the garlic cloves and cut them into quarters. Melt the butter in a clean saucepan, add the onion and garlic, and cook for 8 minutes, until golden. Crush the garlic with a wooden spoon, then pour in the blended broth. 4. Mix the sour cream with the flour, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Gradually stir in a few spoonfuls of hot soup, then pour the mixture into the saucepan, stirring constantly. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring, until thickened. 5. Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry it in a separate pan, without oil, for 5 minutes, until crisp. Put 25 g croutons in each bowl, sprinkle with parmesan and, if you like, a little lemon juice. Pour the soup over the croutons and add the chopped parsley and bacon, if using.