Celeriac Soup
A soup I tried to use up some leftovers, that turned out to be absolutely lovely.
I followed a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe from his Channel 4 River Cottage series, but varied some quantities and added the cabbage and chorizo.
My advice - skip the cabbage!
I followed a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe from his Channel 4 River Cottage series, but varied some quantities and added the cabbage and chorizo.
My advice - skip the cabbage!
Celeriac Soup
soup meat
You can use the pesto to make a tasty pasta sauce too.
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 50g butter
- ½ a celeriac - or 1 small one, chopped
- 1-2 potatoes, chopped
- 1 leek, chopped and washed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 litre stock or water, of course, if you don't have any stock handy
- ½ savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
- 200g chorizo, halved, peeled and sliced
Walnut & Parsley Pesto dressing:- 100g walnuts
- 1 fat garlic clove, chopped
- Hugh adds 100g hard, mature goat's cheese (or Parmesan), grated
- 50g parsley, cleaned
- juice of 1 lemon
- 150ml olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Make the pesto:
Purée the walnuts and the garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, add the parsley and then gradually add the olive oil while processing.
Add oil until the pesto is sloppy probably sloppier than mine, then add the lemon juice and season to taste.
Wash the leeks thoroughly to remove any grit, chop the vegetables, then melt the butter over a low heat and add the onion, leek, garlic, celeriac and potato and sweat gently until they soften, around 15 minutes.
Add stock to cover, simmer for 20 minutes or so until the roots are starting to break apart then liquidise until smooth. Thinly slice the cabbage, return the soup to the pan, add the cabbage, check the seasoning and reheat.
Meanwhile halve the chorizo, remove any skin and slice, then fry gently in a frying pan (with a little olive oil if necessary) until starting to darken.
Serve the soup drizzled with pesto, dressed with chorizo and a little of the chorizo cooking oil.
Purée the walnuts and the garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, add the parsley and then gradually add the olive oil while processing.
Add oil until the pesto is sloppy probably sloppier than mine, then add the lemon juice and season to taste.
Wash the leeks thoroughly to remove any grit, chop the vegetables, then melt the butter over a low heat and add the onion, leek, garlic, celeriac and potato and sweat gently until they soften, around 15 minutes.
Add stock to cover, simmer for 20 minutes or so until the roots are starting to break apart then liquidise until smooth. Thinly slice the cabbage, return the soup to the pan, add the cabbage, check the seasoning and reheat.
Meanwhile halve the chorizo, remove any skin and slice, then fry gently in a frying pan (with a little olive oil if necessary) until starting to darken.
Serve the soup drizzled with pesto, dressed with chorizo and a little of the chorizo cooking oil.
The celeriac soup alone is rather dull, sweet and cloying, but the pesto completely makes it work,
lifting and brightening it. The chorizo is a nice addition too, though you can skip it if you like.
The cabbage adds nothing - I just happened to have some that needed using up.
You could probably use less potato too.
The cabbage adds nothing - I just happened to have some that needed using up.
You could probably use less potato too.
Keeps for a couple of weeks in the fridge.