Soup Sunday: Celeriac, cauliflower and leek

The soup this week was really thanks to the efforts of my Bro. I did the directing, while he did all the grunt work. Naturally I took the glory! It's a pretty good way to cook - I highly recommend it.

I picked up a massive celeriac at the market, and the only way I know how to use it is to make soup. I hear that you can eat it raw though.... hasn't anyone tried this? I'm not so sure about it. That, and I do really like making it into soup.



No recipe for this effort - but to make it you will need:

One brother to do all the hard work
One leek
One celeriac
Half a cauliflower
2 cloves of garlic
Water / vegetable stock
Milk
Salt and pepper

Get your brother to finely slice the leek, cut the cauliflower into florets and crush the garlic.

Tell your Bro to heat a dash of oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add the leek, cauliflower and garlic to the pot. Let it cook for a few minutes until soft.

Meanwhile, your brother should peel and chop the celeriac into chunks. Add to the pot.

Add enough stock/water to just cover the vegetables and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium and gently simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

Give your brother a stick blender, and let them blend the soup until smooth.

Add a very generous dash of milk - enough to thin it slightly and add some richness. Season well with white pepper and salt.

Pat yourself on the back for a job well done - and thank your Bro.

Celeriac soup

Brrr! It's been cold this week. Perfect weather for soup and sitting on the couch with the heater on.

I don't think I've ever had celeriac before this winter. It's so unattractive with it's brown knobbly surface that I never felt tempted to pick it up. Appearances can be deceiving though, and I'm glad I decided to give it a try.

Celeriac is a kind of celery that's grown for the taproot rather than for the stem and leaves. It has a mild flavour with a cross between celery and parsnip. The first time we ate it, we had it alongside mashed potato, and I kept it separate in case we didn't like it. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, and the following week I picked up a large one (over a kilo!). What to do with such a big lump of celeriac? Soup!!



I softened some onion, garlic and diced bacon (probably didn't need the bacon) in a pot, then added the diced celeriac and enough vegetable stock to cover. It all simmered until the celeriac was soft, and then I used my stick blender to puree it. After that, I seasoned it with salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice and stirred through some grated parmesan (probably didn't need the cheese).

Here it is served up with a dash of extra virgin olive oil, and some diced celery leaves. My soup was very thick, so I found it quite filling. It was perfect for a meal on the couch!