Love them Rutabagas!

Finley Farms has had excellent rutabagas this year - starting with small tender ones in the fall, and progressing to the large ones I remember from Canadian winters.

I was raving about their rutabagas last Sunday at the Hollywood Farmers Market, when they asked me what I did with them. Well, I said, last week I roasted them, over the holidays I mashed them, and this week I will cook them in soup.

If I sound like a rutabaga addict, it's because I am. There's nothing like these yellow turnip-like roots (called swedes by the Brits and neeps by the Scots).

I adapted this soup from Anne Bianchi's book Zuppa! Soups from the Italian Countryside. This is a lovely book on the traditional cooking of the impoverished landscape of northern Tuscany. It's a land where you eat whatever is available. I'm looking forward to trying the rice and dandelion soup next week. (Both McGrath and Finley farms have had great dandelion greens recently.)

Autumn Vegetable Soup
3/4 cup dried beans (I used pinquitos, you could use any smallish bean)
6 leaves fresh sage, chopped
1 red onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, sliced in half
1 bunch (7 oz) dinosaur kale
1 (12 oz) rutabaga
1 tsp salt
12 oz butternut squash
1 fennel bulb
pepper to taste

Soak the beans overnight (or all day) in water to cover by 2 inches. Drain. Place in a soup pot with the sage, onion and garlic. Add fresh water to cover by 2 inches, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook, covered, 1 hour, adding more water if necessary.

Wash and chop the kale, stems included. Peel the rutabaga and chop in 1/2 inch pieces. Add to the beans along with the salt and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring often.

Peel the squash and cut in 1/2 inch chunks. Remove the stalks and fronds from the fennel. Halve the bulb lengthwise and cut out the tough core and base. Slice the remaining sections in half lengthwise and then slice across. Add squash and fennel to pot and cook, covered, another 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6