Celery and celeriac soup with fennel

Taken from "VEG: simple, stylish and seasonal vegetarian cooking" by Catherine Mason (Pauntley Press, 2001, ISBN: 0-9534879-2-8, price £12.99)
Get your signed copy!     [other sample recipes]

Celeriac, with its knobbly, unprepossessing exterior, may lack the immediate visual appeal of many other vegetables, but has ample culinary compensations. It combines the texture and colour of parsnips with an intense celery flavour, and is one of my favourite vegetables. There's no denying it's an awkward shape – you just have to resign yourself to the fact that there will be a lot of wastage during preparation and consign the parings to the compost heap.

The celery imparts a delicate pale green tinge to the soup which looks pretty, especially when flecked with bright green parsley, added just before serving. The soup will be suitable for vegans if you omit the butter (add an extra tablespoon of olive oil instead) and finish it with creamed coconut rather than dairy cream.

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 15 g (½ oz) butter (vegans substitute extra oil)
  • 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
  • 3 level teaspoons dried fennel seeds
  • 1 large head of celery – cleaned, trimmed and chopped
  • 1 large celeriac root
  • 1 large potato, peeled and diced
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • up to 2 litres (3½ pints) vegetable stock
  • 100 g (4 oz) creamed coconut (for vegans) or 150 ml (5 fl oz) double cream
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
  • fresh fennel fronds for garnish (optional)

Warm the oil and butter in a large soup pan, and fry the onion, fennel seeds and celery gently for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to brown slightly.

While the onion and celery are cooking, prepare the celeriac. Have a large bowl of cold water ready, and as you peel and dice the celeriac, put it immediately into the water. If you leave its cut surfaces exposed to air they will turn brown, spoiling the colour, although not the flavour, of the finished soup.

Add the potato, the drained celeriac and lemon juice to the soup pan, followed by sufficient vegetable stock just to cover the other ingredients. Cover the pan and simmer for about 30 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.

Puree the soup in batches, then return it to the rinsed-out pan. Dilute with some of the remaining vegetable stock if the soup is too thick. Add the roughly chopped creamed coconut or double cream and re-heat, stirring, but don't allow the soup to boil. Taste and add salt if needed, plus a generous grinding of black pepper. Just before serving stir in the chopped parsley. Garnish each serving with a tiny frond of fresh fennel, if you have any.

ABOUT 8 SERVINGS

Recipe copyright © 2001 Catherine Mason | other sample recipes