Celery Root Soup with Crispy Shallots

How many times have you passed the vegetable aisle in your supermarket and walked right by the celeriac, without giving it a second thought? This gnarly, under appreciated root vegetable, also known as celery root, deserves some love.

For those of you on a low carb diet, it makes a fantastic substitute for mashed potatoes. Find a recipe for that here. But it also makes a really delicious, velvety soup, that’s perfect for this time of year, when winter’s chill is still upon us. Use chicken stock, as I did, or vegetable stock if you’re a vegetarian. And skip the cream if you’re counting your calories (although it’s a scant 1/4 cup for about four to six servings) But please don’t skip the crispy shallots on top. They really dress it up and make it company worthy.

Everything gets cooked in a pot, then the bay leaf and thyme get removed and the soup is blended until smooth.

You can make this soup and be sitting down to eat it in a half hour start to finish – less time than it would take to get take out from the store.

Click here to connect with me on Instagram and find out what’s cooking in Ciao Chow Linda’s kitchen each day (and more)

Celery Root Soup with Crispy Shallots

Author: Ciao Chow Linda

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• 1 large celery root (celeriac), about 1 pound, trimmed and cut into chunks
• 2 T. butter
• 1/2 cup chopped sweet onion
• 1 apple (I used honey crisp),cored, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 cups chicken broth (or water or vegetable broth)
• 1/2 cup white wine (you can use dry or sweet, I used Riesling)
• 1 bay leaf
• a few sprigs of thyme
• salt, white pepper
• 1/4 cup heavy cream, optional
• FOR THE CRISPY SHALLOT:
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 large shallot, sliced

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and add the onions.
2. Cook the onions until they are translucent, then add the rest of the ingredients, except the cream.
3. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and cook until everything is fork tender.
4. It should take about a half hour.
5. Remove the thyme and bay leaf from the pot.
6. Using a blender or stick blender, puree everything until very smooth.
7. Adjust seasonings if necessary, and add cream.
8. If soup is too thick, add some water or broth.
9. If it’s not thick enough, continue to cook until the soup is reduced a little.
10. TO MAKE THE CRISPY SHALLOTS:
11. Place the olive oil in a saucepan and add the shallots to the cold olive oil.
12. Turn up the heat and let the shallots fry until crispy.
13. DO NOT leave the stove because they can easily burn.
14. The leftover olive oil, once cool, is fabulous to use in salad dressings.
15. Pour the soup into bowls, drizzle with some of the olive oil and top with the crispy shallots.

3.5.3251