Parsnip Soup with Potato and Pancetta

• 225g parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 225g potatoes, peeled and chopped
  
• 175g onions, chopped
• 50g butter
• salt and pepper
  
• 850 ml chicken or vegetable stock
  
• 150ml cream
  
• 225g pancetta, torn into strips
  
• sprig of flat parsley

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the parsnips, potatoes and onions, season with salt and pepper and stir to coat the veggies in butter. Tuck a sheet of greaseproof paper neatly on top of the vegetables to keep in the moisture (I do this with all soups). Put on the lid and sweat the vegetables over a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Add the stock, bring to the boil and continue cooking until the vegetables are all soft. Liquidise the soup either in batches in a blender or with a hand-held blender, add the cream and season to taste. While the vegetables are cooking, fry or grill the pancetta until nice and crisp.

Decorate each serving of the hot soup with cooked pancetta strips and flat parsley leaves.