Fall

Rustic Radish Soup

Name: Rustic Radish Soup
Yield: Serves 4-6
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 bunch radishes including their greens; 2 tablespoons unsalted high grade butter; 1 large red onion, chopped; 1 large leek, sliced; 4 perfect small potatoes (russet or yukon), cut into eighths; 1 small achovy, packed in oil and chopped; 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley; pinch of sea salt to taste, with a pinch of Maldon salt flakes for finish; pink or black fresh milled peppercorns, to taste; 3/4 cup light cream or half and half; filtered water; flat leaf parsley and fresh radish rosettes for optional garnish

by: Sagegreen

September 6, 2010

4.5

2 Ratings

Serves 4-6

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Author Notes

Wanting to use all of the radish with this recipe, utilize the greens as well to add to the broth. Whether you leave the skin on or off the potato is your choice. I am also suggesting the option of adding one anchovy fillet for depth of flavor. As an optional garnish, serve with a raw radish rosette. For a cool late summer or early fall evening, this soup offers a rustic velvety, warm touch. - Sagegreen —Sagegreen

Test Kitchen Notes

This soup makes good use of both the radishes and their greens. The smooth, velvety soup is dotted with little bits of tender radish. A gentle simmer tames the radishes' fire for a great, creamy soup. – Stephanie —The Editors

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

1 bunch radishes including their greens
2 tablespoons unsalted high grade butter
1 large red onion, chopped
1 large leek, sliced
4 perfect small potatoes (russet or yukon), cut into eighths
1 small achovy, packed in oil and chopped
¹/₄ cup flat leaf parsley
pinch of sea salt to taste, with a pinch of Maldon salt flakes for finish
pink or black fresh milled peppercorns, to taste
³/₄ cup light cream or half and half
filtered water
flat leaf parsley and fresh radish rosettes for optional garnish

Directions

As soon as you get home, remove the leafy greens from your radishes. Wash them thoroughly and use them in this recipe well before they begin to turn ugly and useless. Saute the chopped onion and leek in butter in a Dutch oven or braising pot.
Add the potatoes (peeled or not) and optional chopped anchovy. Cover with filtered water (@1 inch above contents); add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are completely soft (@30-35 minutes).
Add the fresh radish greens and chopped parsley. Simmer about 5 minutes. Let cool a bit and puree using an immersion blender or transfer to a blender/food processor.
Return to pot, if you have transferred to process. Bring back to a simmer. Finely chop about 1/2-3/4 cup of the fresh radishes and sprinkle with salt. Add these to the pot and cook until tender. Cut some additional raw radishes as rosettes and place in ice water in fridge for an optional garnish later if you like, either in the soup or alongside in a salad.
Stir the cream in to the pot, warm, but do not boil. Serve with an optional garnish of chopped parsley with a radish rosette, finishing salt and pepper to taste, and a toasted and buttered slice of artisan bread.

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21 Reviews

eyerys February 23, 2015

This is such an amazing recipe, thank you for sharing and inspiring me. I altered it a little when I made my own, maybe my additions will inspire others as well. 1) I did not have four potatoes, only two. I also did not have parsley. But I did have some white beets. I used what potatoes I had, and substituted two white beets and a handful of baby white beet greens for the parsley. It worked really well. 2) If you drizzle a few drops of the anchovies' olive oil on top of the soup before serving, it tastes superb. 3) If you choose to peel the potatoes, you can dump the skins, the discarded stems from the radishes, the roots/tips from the leeks, and if you have it, a carrot, in a pot with some water and boil it for 5 hours and after you drain that you will have vegetable stock. Then, you will have wasted literally NO part of your radish. You can freeze it and use it whenever. Hope that helps anyone reading this.

Sandy June 21, 2014

This is delicious! I, too, had an abundance of radishes from my CSA farm share and searched for an interesting use, not just for the radish but for the greens too. This is a great recipe. I didn't have regular parsley on hand, but wanted to use up some of the cilantro (also from the CSA!), so I used that instead. I like it! I also wanted to vegan-ize it, so I skipped the butter (I know, horrible to many, but I don't miss it) and substituted a couple of things. I used a chopped up nori sheet to give the anchovy taste, and I used almond milk instead of cream. I'm very happy with the results.

Sagegreen June 24, 2014

Thanks so much for your feedback. I'm glad you were pleased!

KatieM May 25, 2013

Great Soup! If you like potato leek than this is a no brainer. Thanks for a creative way to use the WHOLE RADISH!

Sagegreen May 25, 2013

Thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed this.

Connie P. May 15, 2012

I was just about to Google search recipe ideas/nutritional value to see if I could find some use for this abundance of radish greens...other than an impromptu bouquet filler or piggie slop fodder. Thanks, Food52, for the timely article!

Picholine March 19, 2012

I was looking for a recipe to use my very fresh and beautiful radish greens and I found it right here. I didn't add the anchovy because I didn't have any. I didn't add the cream because it was not necessary, the soup was fantastic! Thank you!

Sagegreen March 19, 2012

Thanks so much for trying this and letting me know, Picholine!

Niknud September 23, 2011

Love the addition of anchovies - it always adds a little subtle something that can make dishes so much better. My radish greens from the grocer always look so sad - I may substitute watercress instead. Objections?

Sagegreen September 23, 2011

What a lovely idea! Please report back. Thank you, Niknud.

wssmom September 23, 2011

I'm with you Niknud, the radish greens around here are pretty sad looking. Watercess sounds intriguing as a substiute!

pierino September 9, 2010

Wow! I was thinking along these line myself. This sounds wonderful. Glad to see that you use the tops. Too often they are wasted! I'd be tempted to use a really clear chicken broth instead, but nevertheless, great!

Sagegreen September 9, 2010

Thanks. Chicken broth would work well, too. I was keeping this version vegetarian. You can have it cool, too.

TheWimpyVegetarian September 8, 2010

This looks delicious!! And I really like that you used the radish greens too. They're wonderful and often ignored.

Sagegreen September 8, 2010

Thanks!

pauljoseph September 7, 2010

Thank you for sharing this excellent soup recipe

Sagegreen September 7, 2010

Thank you. I like not wasting the radish greens!

adamnsvetcooking September 6, 2010

This would be a good soup for a cold day !

Sagegreen September 7, 2010

Thanks! It just got hot here again though and I have a whole pot of it!

drbabs September 6, 2010

I love greens of all types--clever recipe!

Sagegreen September 6, 2010

Many thanks! This one is best warm, not cold.