Celeriac and Apple Soup

Name: Celeriac and Apple Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Vegetarian
Ingredients: 40 g butter; 1 onion, chopped; 2 sticks celery, chopped; 4 sprigs thyme; 1 celeriac (about 800 g), peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes; 1 Bramley or Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and chopped; 1 litre vegetable stock; 100 ml double cream; 1 tsp cider vinegar; salt and white pepper; 50 g hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped; 1 green apple, cut into fine matchsticks; 2 tbsp hazelnut or good olive oil

Celeriac is an ugly vegetable that makes an elegant soup. One sharp apple keeps it from being heavy, and toasted hazelnuts on top stop it from being boring.

Prep 15 min
Cook 30 min
Total 45 min
Serves 4
Vegetarian

A bowl of smooth pale ivory celeriac soup topped with slivers of green apple, toasted hazelnuts and a few drops of dark oil.

Method

Step 1. Peel the celeriac with a knife rather than a peeler — the skin is thick, knobbly and full of grit, and a peeler will not get it all off.
Step 2. Melt the butter in a large pan and cook the onion, celery and thyme sprigs gently for 10 minutes with a pinch of salt. Keep them pale; browning here makes the finished soup grey.
Step 3. Add the celeriac and apple and turn them over in the butter for 3 minutes.
Step 4. Pour in the stock, bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes until the celeriac gives completely to a knife.
Step 5. Lift out the thyme stalks. Blend until very smooth, in two batches. Celeriac needs longer in the blender than it looks like it should — keep going until there is no grain left at all.
Step 6. Return to the pan, stir in the cream and the vinegar, and warm through without boiling. Season with salt and white pepper; black pepper leaves visible specks in something this pale, which is only a matter of taste but it does show.
Step 7. Serve with the hazelnuts, the apple matchsticks and a drizzle of hazelnut oil.

Notes from the kitchen

Celeriac browns fast once cut. If you are prepping ahead, drop the cubes into water with a squeeze of lemon.
For a vegan version: olive oil for the butter, oat cream for the double cream. The texture holds up well.
The apple matchsticks are worth the two minutes. Without something raw and crisp on top it is a very soft bowl of food.

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Method

Notes from the kitchen

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