Celery root and potato soup

One of my favorite Fall dishes is a recipe for Celery Root and Potato Pancakes that I made for the first time last year. I had never used celery root before making this recipe but I now love the combination of starchy potatoes with the crisp tang of celery root.  I was a little intimidated by the celery root at first because it is, frankly, quite an ugly vegetable and also looked complicated to prepare but it is actually quite simple.  Just cut off the rough, fibrous ends and peel it like  you would a potato to reveal the crisp, white root inside. For such an ugly vegetable, it is really very delicious.

I wanted to include a vegetarian soup in my Fall soup series and decided to try a potato and celery root soup. If they worked so well together in the pancakes, wouldn’t they make an equally delicious soup? The answer, I am happy to say, is a definite “yes” (at least I think so). The celery root gives this soup so much flavor while the potatoes and cream add a hearty, rich texture.

My mom has a great recipe for making creamed vegetable soups using just about any vegetable and I used that as my starting point for this recipe. Strangely enough, my mom’s recipe doesn’t actually contain any cream, and I think this soup would be very good without the cream, although it does add some extra richness. I also substituted vegetable broth for the chicken broth that my mom normally uses but chicken broth would work just as well. You could also easily make a vegan version of this soup by substituting olive oil for the butter and replacing the cream with extra broth or white wine.

As you’ll notice in the pictures, the brand of vegetable broth I used was quite orange and it gave the soup a nice golden hue. I hadn’t intended for the soup to be this color, but I think it’s actually kind of nice for an Autumn meal and would make a gorgeous first course at Thanksgiving.

Celery Root and Potato Soup

Serves 4 as a main dish or 8 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 Celery Roots, peeled and cubed
3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 cups vegetable broth
Kosher salt and white pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream plus 2 Tablespoons for garnish

1.  Heat the butter in a dutch oven or large pot over medium-low heat until melted.  Add the onion to the melted butter and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the celery root and potatoes to the pan and stir until everything is well coated with butter.

2.  Pour enough broth into the pan to just cover the vegetables and add a big pinch of salt.  Bring the broth to a simmer then reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer for 30 to 40 minutes or until the vegetables are very tender.

3.  Pour half of the broth and vegetables into a blender and pulse to puree until the vegetables are completely smooth.  Pour this puree into another large pot and repeat the process with the second half of the vegetables.

4.  If the soup seems too thick, add enough broth to thin it to the texture you like.  Add the cream to the soup then return it to medium heat until it is heated through.  Season with salt and white pepper to taste.  I stirred a little more cream into each bowl just before serving.

I served this soup with some toasted Honey Wheat bread and apple slices and it was the perfect lunch for a cold, rainy day.  I think next time I’ll try garnishing it with some fried sage or maybe fresh dill, but it was delicious with just a bit of cream stirred in at the end.  If you have any fantastic vegetarian soups, please let me know in the comments or e-mail me at katie@cookitfresh.com.