To battle these chilly nights in the seemingly never-ending winter, I turn once again to soup. If you follow my blog, you know I love soup. So easy, so comforting, and they can usually be made ahead which works out perfectly for those nights when I have 1/2 hour or less to get dinner on the table. I recently tweaked my old recipe, and added a little more depth and complexity to this delicious soup. The other night I was going to be out till 6:45, and with dinnertime at 7:00, I decided to make this soup ahead, then reheat when I got home.
Even making it ahead is pretty quick. The most time consuming part is peeling and chopping all that celery root. I’ve found the easiest way to peel this gnarly looking root is to use a very sharp knife to cut away the tough outer skin. Once that’s done, you have a half hour of hands-off time while the soup cooks. Finishing this with bacon bits that you cook as the base of the soup, and quick croutons with stale bread, makes it a fancy weeknight meal.
Cream of Celery Root Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 4 strips of bacon cut into lardons
- 1 onion diced
- 1 carrot diced
- 2 ribs celery diced
- ¼ cup cognac
- 4 large celery roots peeled and cut into 1” pieces
- 1 potato peeled and cut into 1” pieces
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 1 tbsp chopped rosemary
- 1 cup milk or cream
- Sat & pepper to taste
- ¼ tsp cumin
- day old bread for croutons
- ½ tsp dried thyme
Instructions
- Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a heavy pot. Add bacon and cook till crisp. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. Drain all but 1 tbsp fat.
- Add onion, carrot and celery to the pot. Cook till softened, about 8 minutes.
- Add celery root, potato, stock and rosemary. Season with salt & pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 30 minutes, till vegetables are very tender.
- Turn off heat and put soup through a food mill to remove any fibrous pieces of celery root. Return to soup pot, add rosemary, cream, and cumin, and heat through. For a super smooth soup, turn off heat and blend with an immersion blender. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with garnish of crispy bacon bits and/or garlic croutons.
