Ground elder soup

As I've mentioned before - that horror of weeds, ground elder, is edible. Today I decided to test the theory. The link above has links to other people's ground elder recipes - but I couldn't get on the laptop to check what traditionally goes with it - so I made up this:

Butternut squash, parsnip and ground elder soup

Picking ground elder: - you will find the tastiest ground elder growing along the borders of your veg patch. Be sure not to pick any that appears to be diseased or getting eaten - such elder pestilence needs to be encouraged.

Ingredients

6 or so carrots

4 or so parsnips

1 butternut squash

A handful of cannillini beans

6 or so cloves of garlic - peeled

2 onions

Veg stock

About a third of a carrier bag of freshly picked ground elder. I used Tesco - but any carrier bag will do.

Roast the squash, carrots, parsnips, garlic and one of the onions. Dust the carrots and parsnips with ground coriander and cumin seeds, and place about 1 cubic cm of peeled root ginger on each half of the squash (in the hollow were the seeds were like). Splatter everything with oil, olive oil if you're not going to roast the veg at too high a temperature.

Cook the beans

Once the squash has gone squashy, scrape the flesh off the skin (this is easier if it's cooled a bit), and chuck it, and all the roast veg in about 1 litre of veggie stock. (Discard the ginger - it's done it's job). Add the beans. Finely chop and add the other onion. Simmer for bit.

Zap in a whizzer, or whizz in a zapper depending on what you have to hand. Adjust seasoning to taste.

What you now have is a really delicious soup - pungent with garlic, sweet from the roast veg, deeply enticing from the spices and silky smooth. Are you sure you want to proceed to the next step?

Really? Ok - a few minutes before serving add the ground elder. Be sure to relish this moment - witch-like cackling greatly enhances this part of the recipe.

Serve with crusty homemade wholemeal and rye sour dough bread with pumpkin seeds and disgraceful amounts of cheap butter from Lidl.

And reflect - if only you could eat all the pests in your life.

(Tempting fate I know - but although the soup is nearly ready - I haven't actually eaten any yet. Stay tuned!)