It’s been absolutely freezing outside today – the kind of January day when soup is required and nothing but soup will do. Once this morning’s biting wind had died down it started to snow like billy-o this afternoon – it’s settled but there isn’t enough to make a snowman. It looks very pretty though.
I picked up a decent sized celeriac when we were shopping yesterday – I’m not sure what I was planning to do with it. It’s funny stuff, celeriac, not the most attractive of vegetables; it looks more like something you'd use to prop the back door open! Looks aren't everything, though; it has a fabulous earthy taste - like celery with delusions of grandeur. I thought I’d give some soup a whirl for our lunch.
It worked out really well, very creamy and very warming; perfect with a couple of slices of homemade seedy bread.
750g celeriac
1 medium onion
1 medium floury potato
2 sticks of celery
1tbsp olive oil
1lt stock
250ml milk
chopped parsley
few grinds of black pepper
Run a peeler down the sticks of celery to take off any stringy bits, then chop roughly. Peel and chop the rest of the veg.
Heat the oil gently in a large pan; add all the veg, lower the heat and put a lid on the pan. Sweat the veg for 10 mins then add the stock; bring to a boil, turn the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 mins until tender.
Take off the heat, add the milk and blitz until completely smooth and silky, adding a little more stock if necessary.
Reheat gently and serve with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and a good grind of black pepper.