Celery Soup

Celery is a humble vegetable.  Generally relegated to supporting rolls, or even simply disappearing into the dish giving all for the great good.  However, this Celery Soup Recipe shows that even the humble celery Can stand on it own...Can be the star…Can shine like no other…ok, I know I’m exaggerating, but the soup is damn good and it’s one of those soup recipes that you can make in about 30 minutes.  That's good stuff.  I make the soup with celery root, but you can just as easily use the more common celery stalks, and I also add some additional body to the soup with some potato and cream.  Hope you enjoy this celery soup as much as I do!

Recipe Overview & Keys to Success

To make the best Celery Soup, just follow these few cooking techniques:

1. Whether you use celery root or stalks, I highly recommend the addition of potato in the soup.  While the potato doesn’t add much flavor, it does add body and substance, that I think is sorely missing if you only use celery
2. Balance and seasoning.  Like many soups, the flavors are subtle, and so the soup needs to be properly seasoned and balanced.  The only way to get there is to taste and season as you go.  Chances are if it doesn’t taste great to you…it just needs some salt and pepper.
3. Add a garnish.  While the soup itself tastes great, and looks great, it’s amazing what a bit of garnish can add.  The garnish can add some visual and textural contrast and really jazz up the recipe.  I use a bit of chive, but you can use any herb, croutons, bacon bits, olive oil…just about anything.

CELERY SOUP

Ingredients for Celery Soup

• 1 celery root
• 1 smallish russet potato diced
• 1 medium onion diced
• 3 garlic cloves chopped
• 2 quarts chicken stock
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 tablespoons chopped chive

Celery Root Soup

• Clean the celery root by peeling off the skin, washing the celery, and then chopping it into one inch pieces (keep the pieces submerged in water to prevent browning)
• Bring a soup pot to temperature over medium heat. Coat in olive oil and sauté the onions and garlic (season with salt and pepper) until they are softened, but not browned
• Add the diced celery root and potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and cover in chicken stock
• Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the celery root and potato are tender
• Blend the soup together until smooth and taste
• Adjust the seasoning (salt and pepper) if needed, and add half the cream
• Taste again, and if desired, add more cream, salt or pepper
• Serve up the soup and garnish with the chopped chives

Wine Recommendation:  This soup is light and delicate, but the addition of the cream does enable it to stand up to some serous wine.  I really like a rich, buttery chardonnay with this soup.  One from the Napa Valley that is rich and buttery, with a good amount of oak will work well with the cream in the soup and the celery flavors.  Hope you enjoy it.