Provencal-Style Artichoke Soup

This soup was the perfect end to a fantastic week. This week, I had the pleasure of having 3 fabulous visitors all in town - Dunya, Michelle, and Bethany! Dunya got to Seattle on Tuesday, and we have been spending every evening hanging out and eating great food in Seattle. Michelle and Bethany arrive on Friday, and we have been whooping it up in Seattle and on Bainbridge island all weekend.

Everyone left this morning, and Seamus and I thought we should eat some soup this week to keep it light in response to all of the food and drinks over the weekend. Ed and Jamila came over and we played Scrabble, and we cooked up this delicious soup. This soup is both light and flavorful at the same time, and was unlike any other soup I have had before. We substituted the heavy cream for skim milk, and used basil instead of tarragon, but otherwise followed the recipe closely. A great Sunday evening meal!

Provencal-Style Artichoke Soup

Ingredients
2 tablespoon oilve oil
18 ounces frozen artichokes, thawed and patted dry
12 ounces white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thin
1 leek, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced 1/3 inch thick and washed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 anchoy fillets, rinsed and minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh thym
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups vegetable broth
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup heavy cream (I used skim milk)
2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon or basil (I used basil)

Directions
1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add artichokes and cook until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes; transfer to a plate. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pot and head over medium heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms, cover and cook until mushrooms have release liquid, about 5 minutes. Uncover, cook until mushrooms are dry and browned, about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in leek and butter and cook until leek is softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, anchovies, and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until nearly evaporated, about 1 minute.

3. Gradually whisk in chicken broth and vegetable broth, smoothing out any lumps. Stir in parsnips, bay leaves, and half of artichokes and bring to boil.

4. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer gently until parsnips are tender, 30-40 minutes.

5. Off heat, discard bay leaves. Stir in cream , tarragon, and remaining artichokes and let stand until srtichokes are heated through, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.