If you can find celeriac or celery root in your grocery store, you should try this soup. It’s a low starch vegetable that has a wonderful celery-like flavor, but it’s meatier than celery so it lends a creamy texture to soups when they are pureed. Our Co-op here in Roanoke often has organic celeriac so I have been using them in soup regularly this winter. The cauliflower soup recipe I posted can be made with celeriac–just omit the carrot and if you want the potato and add 1 celeriac root.
This simple soup is more like celery soup but without dairy–except for the ghee which is well tolerated by many folks sensitive to dairy. The soup is blended once the vegetables are cooked so no need to finely chop them.
Serves 4
1 large celeriac root, peeled and cubed into 1 inch pieces
1 very large (about 4 inches in diameter) yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup of ghee
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 small potato, chopped (optional)
4 cups of broth or water ( I used water)
1/4 cup fresh dill weed, chopped fine or 1 tsp. ground dill seed (optional)
salt to taste
black pepper, optional
In a soup pot, melt the ghee. Add the onion and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes giving an occasional stir. Wash and chop the other veggies while the onion is sauteing. Add the other vegetables and continue to heat over medium heat giving an occasional stir for another few minutes. Add the broth or water. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce the heat to low to keep the soup cooking at a simmer for about an hour or until the vegetables are very tender and easily pierced. Remove from heat and carefully blend with an immersion blender until creamy. Add salt, and pepper if desired, to taste. Serve hot garnished with dill.
