Celeriac soup is an easy creamy comforting recipe made from celery root, my version features the flavours of fennel & black pepper.
This soup will is an ideal easy lunch and will store in the fridge for 3-4 days. It is also perfect for slipping into a thermos flask for a cold day out.
Creamy Celery Root Soup
Celeriac is a much-underused vegetable as far as I am concerned. I am sure its somewhat gnarly appearance has a great deal to do with that!
However, beneath that gnarly skin is a wonderfully flavoured root vegetable.
It is from the same family as celery and is also known as celery root, which should give you a hint as to its flavour. It does share a similar flavour to its sibling vegetable but has a more earthy and nutty flavour.
In this creamy celeriac soup, it provides all of the flavour with the exception of a little fennel to add some aniseed back notes.
It is gloriously simple to make, it is just a case of chopping some vegetables, simmering them and then blending before stirring in some cream
It is a wonderfully flexible vegetable that can be used in many of the same ways as potato or swede!
You can make roasted celeriac, mashed celeriac, chuck it into stews or soups like my Hungarian Babgulyas. I even use it in my roasted vegetable crumble.
So if you have noticed this rather ugly looking veg in the supermarket but are not quite sure what to do with it… give the wee fella a chance!
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you prepare celeriac?
I tend to use two pieces of kit to prepare celeriac, the first is a large sharp knife and the second is a good vegetable peeler!
Begin by washing the celeriac if it is a bit muddy, which is not unusual, then top and tail the vegetable. This gives you a stable surface to chop the vegetable later.
Then get in there with a vegetable peeler and go to town, you will need to ensure that you have got rid of the “eyes” as you go. A 650g or 22oz celeriac will yield around 500g of or 17oz of useable veg!
You then just need to cut it up as per your recipe.
Why is there potato in this recipe?
Celeriac as an ingredient does not have a great deal of starch and without the addition of potato this soup can be a bit “watery”.
The starch from the potato holds it all together and gives the dish a much smoother feel.
How long will this soup save?
It is fine in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Can I freeze this soup?
I personally do not like to freeze creamy soups. This is because both the texture and flavour are impacted by the freezing process.
However, it is safe to freeze if you want to and it will last for 6 months in the freezer.
Serving Suggestions
This cream of celeriac soup is a wonderfully simple starter, lunch or even supper dish.
It does not need a great deal added to it, I like to add a garnish of fresh parsley and smoked paprika.
Then a big chunk of crusty bread and I am good to call it done! Something like this crusty Italian bread would be perfect.
You could add some croutons in the same way I do with my roasted tomato soup.
If you wanted to serve it in a way that is a bit showier, then add buttery bread crumb topping. The one lemon parsley crumb that I use on my sea bream fillet would be perfect.
Equipment Used
I only mention brands of equipment if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.
- Stovetop.
- 24cm or 10″ saucepan with a lid.
- Chopping board.
- Kitchen knife.
- Vegetable peeler or pairing knife.
- Weighing scales and or measuring cups and spoons.
- Blender.
- Fine mesh sieve.
Yield: 4 Servings
Creamy Celeriac Soup Recipe
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 55 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
A Cream of Celeriac Soup as a perfect winter staple, packing loads of almost nutty 'celery' flavour and silky smooth with a fun crunchy topping.
Ingredients
- 25g (1 Tbsp + 2 Tsp) Butter
- 100g (⅔ Cup) Onion
- 50g (⅓ Cup) Celery
- 75g (½ Cup) Carrot
- 12 Black Pepper Corns
- 1 Tbsp Fennel Seeds
- 100g (⅔ Cup) Floury or Mealy Potato
- 1 Medium (600-700g) Celeriac
- 500ml (2 Cups) Vegetable Stock
- 1 Bay Leaf
- ½ Tsp Salt
- 250ml (1 Cup) Milk
- 250ml (1 Cup) Cream
Instructions
- Cut the onion, celery and carrot into a 1cm (1/2") dice.
- Melt the butter in a 24cm or 10" saucepan over a medium-low heat and add the onion, celery, carrot, fennel seeds and black pepper and "sweat" for 10 minutes. If the onion begins to brown turn down the heat.
- Peel the celeriac and potatoes and cut both into 25mm (1") dice. See the Frequently Asked Questions for tips on how to prepare celeriac.
- Pour in the vegetable stock and add the potato, celeriac, bay leaf and salt and bring to a simmer.
- Add a lid and cook for 30 minutes or until the potato and celeriac are cooked.
- Transfer to a blender and blitz to form a smooth liquid.
- Return the soup to the pan that it was cooked in passing it through a fine-mesh sieve.
- Now add the cream and milk, stir to combine and bring to serving temperature, now is a good time to check the seasoning again and add salt as required.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 399Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 90mgSodium: 781mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 5gSugar: 9gProtein: 8g
Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.
