Rachel Allen knows a thing or two about whipping up a delicious meal and her new book Soup Broth Bread is crammed with 120 divine recipes.

From ramens and dumpings to scones, whatever your level of skill in the kitchen, the tips and advice among the pages will ensure you master the dishes in no time.

Below, Rachel shares her recipe for a winter favourite - roast parsnip soup.

Excuse us while we go make a batch!

Roasted parsnip, garlic and haricot bean soup with sage

This is a supremely smooth and silky soup, topped with deliciously crisp fried sage leaves. The garlic cloves, when roasted in their skins, deliver a sweet but rounded depth that I adore. A perfect soup for a cold blustery day.

Ingredients

3 medium or 2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks

1 large onion, peeled and cut into 2cm chunks

6 very large, whole unpeeled cloves of garlic (40g in total)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 x 400g tin of haricot beans

1 litre vegetable or chicken stock 

1 tablespoon chopped sage

To serve - 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil a handful of sage leaves 

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.

1 - Place the parsnip and onion chunks in a roasting tray with the whole unpeeled cloves of garlic. Drizzle over the olive oil and toss the vegetables, seasoning with salt and pepper. Spread them out to cover the base of the roasting tray and place in the preheated oven for 35–45 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and a little golden around the edges.

2 - Drain the tin of beans and tip all but a generous tablespoon of beans into the vegetables. Return to the oven for 5 minutes more.

3 - Take the tray out of the oven and tip the beans and vegetables and any delicious juices into a saucepan with the hot stock. Add the 1 tablespoon of chopped sage and blend the soup until smooth and silky. Season to taste. To serve, pour the hot soup into warm bowls. Put the 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a small frying pan and allow to get hot.

4 - Add the sage leaves and fry for 10–15 seconds, until they turn a couple of shades darker and become fragrant. Spoon the sage flavoured oil and the crispy sage leaves over the soup with the reserved beans, and serve straight away.

Note

If you’re cooking dried beans from scratch, you’ll need 125g of haricot (or cannellini) beans. Soak in plenty of cold water overnight or for at least 5 hours, then drain, cover with plenty of fresh cold water and boil for 30–40 minutes, until tender.

Rachel Allen's Soup Broth Bread is out now available in bookstores nationwide and online.