Although swede soup is more popular during the colder seasons, it is still comforting to sit down to a hearty bowl on a cool spring day in Michigan. The creamy rosemary pear and squash soup recipe I created last year was a big hit for my family. So, this time, combining pears and swede together with the intense cardamom spice is nothing but awesome.
Last fall, I was talking to a local small business expert, Cory, and trying to get ideas on how to improve engagements on my blog. He said, “Why not have videos? I often look up cooking videos when I’m trying to find how to cook certain things.”
I knew at some point that I would want to add videos to my blog. At that time, though, it still seemed like it was something in my distant future plan. However, long story short, I ended up taking a video course at my local community college and here is the first experiment I made for my old recipe, “how to make water kefir”.
Just like Cory, I often search recipes and find inspirations on Youtube. Sometimes it’s quite entertaining. But it’s only sometimes that they’re good quality videos. A few months ago, I found a Youtube video of the famous chef, Gordon Ramsay, making a creamy swede and cardamom soup as a Christmas lunch. Leo came to my office while I was watching it. Later, he asked me to make the “Christmas lunch” that the dancing chef made. (Side note: the way chef Ramsay cooks makes Leo think he was dancing, check out the video here).
Swede, a.k.a. Rutabaga, is a root vegetable that has a light orange color under the skin. For these type of root vegetables, I love to take out my pressure cooker and let it get the job done in a quick and energy efficient way. Once the soup is well cooked in the pressure cooker, I transfer it into a high-speed blender and blend with pre-soaked cashew nuts. Not only do these nuts add a nutty flavor and creamy texture, but also all the unsaturated fat makes this soup much healthier than using dairy cream or coconut cream.
This cardamom pear swede soup definitely is a savory soup with an intense cardamom taste. But, no worries! All the other flavors from rosemary, pear, and nutmeg are perfectly balanced with the soup. With the creamy texture and robust flavor, you probably want to have this vegan, gluten-free soup all year round.
This cardamom pear swede soup definitely is a savory soup with an intense cardamom taste. With the creamy texture and robust flavor, you probably want to have this soup all year round.
- ⅓ cup raw cashew nuts
- 3 cups water
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 medium swede rutabaga
- 2 bosc pears
- 1½ tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
- ½ tablespoon cardamom pods
- 1 sprig rosemary
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Garnish:
- ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 sprig rosemary
- Soak raw cashew nuts in 1 cup of water at room temperature for at least 6 hours. You can also soak them in hot water for 2-3 hours (quick soak method).
- Peel the outer skin of the swede (rutabaga). Cut the swede and pears into 1-inch cubes. Set aside.
- Heat pressure cooker over high heat until hot. Add oil and wait for approximately 10 seconds until the oil is hot. Add diced yellow onion and sauté 2 minutes until it becomes translucent. Add cubed swede and pear. Stir to combine and cook over medium heat for 2 minutes.
- Use a mortar and pestle or a heavy saucepan to crush the cardamom pods. Add the crushed pods, rosemary sprig, salt, and the 2 cups of water into the pressure cooker. Cover the pressure cooker with lid. Cook under low steady steam for 10 minutes after the pressure is built up.
- Remove the pressure cooker from heat and use the rapid pressure release method as described in your user manual.
- Transfer the cooked soup into a heat-proof blender. Add soaked cashew nuts and the water the nuts were soaked in into the blender. Blend until smooth. Sieve through a fine-mesh strainer to discard any large particles, if necessary.
- Garnish with ground nutmeg and rosemary. Serve warm.