Celeriac isn’t exactly a widely used vegetable, but it’s one that you can whip out to add a bit of variety to your cooking, whether you add chunks of it to a roasting tray, grate it in a salad or slice it thinly to crisp up a stir fry. However, one of our favourite ways of cooking the big white brain of the veg world is to make it the backbone of a very tasty soup.
Our celeriac soup is beefed up with the additional flavour of mature cheddar cheese, but in all fairness any number of different cheeses could be used to make this soup just as tasty. Celeriac and cheese is a great combination, so if you want to change the recipe up, just replace mature cheddar with blue Stilton, Parmesan or some creamy brie.
Ingredients (serves 4):
• 1 celeriac, peeled and chopped into inch cubes
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 3 medium sized potatoes peeled and chopped into cubes
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 50ml single cream (you can use milk if you want a skinnier version of the soup)
• 100g mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tbsp mixed herbs
• 750ml vegetable stock
• A good couple of pinches of salt and pepper to season well
Celeriac soup recipe steps:
1. Boil the celeriac, potatoes and onion in the vegetable stock to soften and flavour a little with the bay leaf and salt and pepper. 15 minutes should be about right, but you’ll be able to test everything by stabbing the potatoes and celeriac with a knife. If it goes through easily enough then it’s done.
2. Now add the garlic, turmeric and mixed herbs to the pot and return to the boil for another five minutes before turning off the heat and leaving to cool for five.
3. Now it’s blitzing time, so get yourself set and make sure the celeriac stock isn’t too hot to burn if you get splattered a little. You also need to remember to take the bay leaf out before blitzing until super smooth with a hand blender.
4. Add the cream and cheese to the pan and return to a medium heat to warm through and melt the cheese. Stir continuously to make sure the cheese mixes well in the soup. If you want to give it a little kick you can add in a glass of white wine.
5. Serve up in big bowls and throw out some wholemeal rolls for prime soup dipping.
