Pressure Cooker Root Vegetable and Apple Soup with Dumplings

So my mom bought me a pressure cooker while I was in the states. It's not a kitchen appliance I'd ever used, nor is it one I'd ever given much thought to owning. But then, when my mother handed me this monstrous thing to go into my already crammed suitcase, I remembered some dish my parents used to make when I was little. This was of course when I still ate meat, but it was at the time of my favourite meals. All I remembered was that it involved pork, potatoes, and carrots. When I mentioned this to my mother, she said that it was something she had in fact done in the pressure cooker. Awesome, because I loved those potatoes and carrots! I graciously and greedily packed my new toy away in my evil basement den (i.e. my mom's work room in downstairs).

And now I'm experimenting with it. I tried a recipe a few months ago (I can't remember exactly where from, sadly) that involved covering a saucepan with damp wax paper and a lid so to better steam the soup ingredients inside. Well what better way to keep the steam in the cooking container than with a pressure cooker?

Had I more time, I'd have used my own pre-made vegetable stock. I just used up the last frozen batch last night, so that's on this week's to-do list!

Apple and Root Vegetable Soup with Smokey Sage Dumplings

Serves two

Soup ingredients
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 220g celery
- 215g parsnip
- 120g carrot
- 320g granny smith apple (3 apples)
- 225g leek
- 1 inch stem ginger
- 1.5 litres water
- salt and/or vegetable boullion to taste

Dumpling ingredients
- two strips veggie bacon (facon), finely diced
- 2 tablespoon fresh sage, finely chopped
- 85g vegetable suet
- 85g self rising flour
- non-dairy milk

Directions/Method
1. Cut all of the vegetables into 1 inch-ish sized chunks and slice the ginger. Add all ingredients but final to the water in the pressure cooker.
2. Turn the heat to high to obtain high pressure and then reduce heat to maintain a stable pressure (this is around the medium-high mark for my cooker). Cook at pressure for about 8 minutes and then, as per instructions for your pressure cooker, allow pressure to drop.
3. After the pressure has been completely reduced and it's safe to open your pressure cooker, open and allow to cool slightly.
4. In a food processor or blender, mix ingredients in batches until smooth. Return to pressure cooker (leave lid off) and mix with salt and/or boullion cubes until you reach desired taste.
5. To make the dumplings, mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add just enough milk to make a dough, no more (add a couple of tablespoons at a time so you don't accidentally add too much).
6. Roll the dough into balls and add to the soup. Heat for about 20 minutes or until dumplings are fluffy and done. Don't pressure cook for this part of the recipe; just leave the lid off and cook as you would in a normal pot.