With a last name like “Stewart” you’d think I’d make stew a lot more often. Truth is, I never really liked stew. I still scrunch up my nose at the sound of the word. Let’s call this a thick soup and move on.

This week’s veggie basket included parsley root. Except, I really thought I was ordering parsnips! So much for shopping by picture - always read the fine print! Once the parsley root confusion got sorted out, the next question was.. what the heck do I do with parsley root? Until this week, I’d lived almost (ALMOST!) 30 years blissfully ignorant of their existence.

Readers from Europe-land will probably laugh at my ignorance of such a staple vegetable. It seems this quirky little vegetable is a staple in Holland, Germany and Poland… so much so they even call it “Dutch parsley” or “German parsley” depending on which side of the Smart Car you’re standing on. : )

I decided to side with the fraulines and make a Germanic-y stew with caraway dumplings.

The plan? To turn this:

Into this:

It turned out to be a nice hearty soup.  Not STEW.  I put more little pearl onions in because I thought they looked cool.  Because when you make stew… I mean SOUP… it’s important to maintain optimal coolness.

The only thing I didn’t love was the dumplings.  I put in waaaaaay too many caraway seeds.  Each little dumpling had the flavour of a thousand loaves of rye bread.  Maybe that’s how the fraulines dig it, but I found it distracting from the taste of my soup.  And there was no need to distract from the soup - it was delicious.

The parsley root was a nice change too, but I’m not sure how to describe the taste.  Green?  Nutty?  Sort of like parsnip that lost its sweetness.  It blended well with the other vegetables, so it gets an A+ for “playing well with others.”  If parsely root was a person, it would probably be a wallflower at the school dance.  You just need to give it a try to find out that underneath it all, it’s a really nice person.

Chicken Stew with Caraway Dumplings

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
• 500 grams chicken thighs chopped (I used 6)
• 1 onion
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 leeks (white part only)
• 1 pound bag of parsley root
• 2 parsnips
• 3 carrots
• 12 small white pearl onions
• 10 peppercorns
• 2 bay leafs
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 tsp thyme, rosemary
• Salt & pepper
• 4 cups water
• 2 tsp chicken stock
• 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

For the dumplings:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• Salt
• 2 Tbsp caraway seeds (I’d use less next time .. maybe 1 Tbsp.)

In a dutch oven (German recipe, Dutch oven!), melt the butter over medium high heat. Brown the chicken and chopped onion.

Sprinkle the flour over the chicken pieces and mix to absorb the flour. Add the parsnips, parsley roots, carrots, whole white onions, peppercorns, thyme, rosemary, chicken stock and bay leafs. Cover with water and bring to just below a boil. Simmer until vegetables are soft - about 30 minutes. Add the peas and cook for 10 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper and add the lemon juice.

While the stew is simmering, prepare the dumplings. Stir together the eggs, flour, vegetable oil, salt and caraway seeds. Drop the dough by the tablespoon on top of the stewing chicken, making sure the balls don’t sink into the gravy. Cover and cook for 20 minutes without looking. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings.

Boyfriendly rating: *4/5 *The boy said 5/5, but I think it’s really a 4/5.