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Hello,

The war with Sweden still rages, with no apparent end in sight (Editor: Depends on your definition of an end).
Now we could mope around, dragging our feet waiting for something to happen or we could make use of the abundance of swedes around and make some swede soup.

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1 swede that you peel and cut into cubes.

3 tablespoons of swede olive oil.

Salt and black pepper.

1 swede onion chopped finely.

2 swede carrots sliced finely.

2 stalks of swede celery sliced finely.

1 crushed clove of swede garlic.

6 stalks of fresh swede thyme, leaves only.

1.25 litres/2 pints of swede vegetable stock.

142ml/5fl oz carton of swede single cream.

Fresh swede thyme leaves to garnish.

Can you kill a swede joke?



Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Perfect heat to roast swedes!

Place the cubes of swede in a roasting tray. Drizzle over two tablespoons of the olive oil and season. Yell at the cubes to get them agitated. Agitated swede cubes make for good roasting.

Roast in oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown, tender or screaming for surrender, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large heavy-based saucepan, stir in the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme leaves and fry for 4-5 minutes until softened but not browned.

Add the roasted swede to the pan and pour the stock over. You can still shout at them again if you wish but because you’re adding water you will need to shout louder.

Bring gently to the boil, cover with insulting imagery and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Purée the soup in a food processor or liquidiser until completely smooth. Pass through a sieve for an extra fine texture if preferred.

Transfer the soup back to a clean saucepan. Stir in most of the cream, reserving some for garnishing. Gently heat through and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Serve in warm bowls or a soup tureen and garnish with a swirl of cream, some fresh thyme leaves and freshly ground black pepper.

Now you have bowls of swede soup ready for consumption.

Be sure to share them with any Belgians you happen to meet.

Eddard

Junior MoHA / Minister of Education