Purée of Celery Soup Recipe
This classic purée of celery soup is beautifully aromatic. You can make it either with celery or celery root (also sometimes called "celeriac.").Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 lb fresh celery or celery root
- 1 medium Russet (or other starchy) potato
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 qt vegetable stock or white stock
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Ground white pepper, to taste
Preparation:
- Cut celery into (roughly) same-sized pieces, about ½ inch to 1 inch thick, depending on diameter. Don't worry about precision — the soup is going to be puréed anyway. We just want the pieces to be of uniform size so that they cook evenly.
- Peel the potato and cut it into pieces about the same size as the celery.
- In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat the butter over a low-to-medium heat.
- Add the onion, garlic and celery and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the onion is slightly translucent, stirring more or less continuously.
- Add the wine and cook for another minute or two or until the wine seems to have reduced by about half.
- Add the stock and the potato. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the celery and potatoes are soft enough that they can easily be pierced with a knife. Don't let them get mushy, though.
- Remove from heat and purée in a blender, working in batches if necessary.
Tip: Use care when processing hot items in a blender as the hot steam can sometimes blow the blender lid off. Start on a slow speed with the lid slightly ajar to vent any steam, then seal the lid and increase the blending speed. - Return puréed soup to pot and bring to a simmer again, adding more broth or stock to adjust the thickness if necessary.
- Season to taste with Kosher salt and white pepper.
- Garnish with a toasted crouton and serve right away.
Optional:
- Stir ¼ cup hot cream into the soup just before serving.
