Celeriac Soup with Gremolata
It’s been a minute ( actually a good chunk of time has gone by ) since I’ve journaled about recipes. Not for lack of desire, just life taking precedence over any small amount of free time I might have. We are in the rhythm of the Pacific Northwest winter, which is the ebb and flow of grey, mist, fog and rain with a serendipitous sprinkling of blue skies and sunshine on the occasional day. Those are the days you cancel all plans of errands and to-do’s and spend an afternoon wandering, drinking coffee, soaking up the sun and if you’re me, rummaging around your house trying to remember the last place you put your sunglasses.
The altered pace of pandemic life seems to evolve month by month, I have welcomed new distractions (obsessions) in reading, music and cooking ventures to fill up the small slivers of free time. Poetry by Joy Harjo and Mary Oliver, bookclub reads with good friends and getting lost in preparing Indian Cuisine and the works of Salman Rushdie. Creating playlists of Vivaldi, Debussy, Bach and Max Richter or perfecting my skills (or lack there of) on my son’s Xbox.
Soup has been on a heavy rotation in the kitchen. I’ve been enjoying opening up the vegetable crisper and having a wack at some concoction or another. This celeriac soup was inspired by something I saw in Food and Wine years back. I absolutely love the taste of celeriac, the taste of celery with some sweetness and nutty overtones, I would never turn down some remoulade with cold cuts and crusty bread. My family would welcome this soup on any blustery night or poured hot from a thermos on a winter picnic.
As far as this recipe goes you can really have at it with your own creativity. I would keep the quantity of the celeriac the same for a thick creamy consistency or swap in some other veg like maybe some potatoes or parsnip that would add up to the same volume. Maybe let whatever is in your vegetable crisper be your inspiration. I opted to roast the garlic prior to adding to the soup, plus it’s great to reserve a few cloves to slather on crusty bread later.
The best part making soup is that there is always enough to share, or even better making it with that intention, standing over the stove, thinking of someone while you’re stirring. Surprise your neighbor, drop some off at a food pantry (Portland has some with refrigeration). I hope all is well in your life, these times are strange and hard for many, remember to extend kindness to others even the smallest gesture can make a difference.
Lx
Celeriac Soup with Gremolata
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large leek, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
half a head of roasted garlic, mine had large cloves, around 8 cloves
2 pounds of celeriac, peeled and cut into 1 inch dice
1 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced, 3/4-1 cup
3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup olive oil
3/4 cup course chopped italian parsley
1 small lemon zested
1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
Kosher salt
Pepper
Preparation
In a large soup pot heat olive oil, add the sliced leek and cook over moderate heat until softend, roughly 5 to 10 minutes. Add celeriac, fennel bulb, roasted garlic, vegetable stock and 4 cups of water and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the celeriac is tender, 40 minutes to an hour.
Preheat oven to 375°. Spread the walnuts in a pie plate or on a small cookie sheet and toast for until golden, this takes 10 minutes in my oven, watch over yours at the 5 minute marker then go from there. Cool walnuts, then finely chop and transfer to bowl. Add the olive oil, parsley and lemon zest. Mix well.
In a blender, puree the soup in 2-3 batches depending on the size of your blender, until very smooth. Pour into clean soup pot and stir in heavy cream if using (the cream gives it just a bit more of a silky texture). Season with salt and pepper and reheat if needed. Serve topped with gremolata and crusty bread on the side.