Celery Soup

Sylvia Fountaine "This recipe for Simple Celery Soup is creamy and luscious, and ohhhhh so comforting!
If you’ve been here a while, you’ll know how much I love to take simple, ordinary ingredients and try to elevate them. It’s something I learned from my very frugal, immigrant parents who would often host the most delicious dinners while using the humblest, most cost-saving ingredients"

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, or butter

• 1 onion, diced

• 4 fat garlic cloves, rough chopped

• 6 cups celery, sliced thin (about 750g) 1 extra-large head, save some leaves for garnish

• 2 cups potatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds ( about 3/4 lb – 1 extra-large russet peeled, or use a few yukons, unpeeled.

• 4 cups veggie or chicken broth ( or 4 cups water + 1 tablespoon “Better than Bouillon” Vegetable Base)

• 1 cup water

• 1 bay leaf (optional), remove it before blending

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 1/8 – 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, start conservatively, add more to taste or leave it out entirely.

Add

• 1/4 cup fresh dill (small stems ok)

• 1/2 cup fresh parsley (small stems ok)

• Stir in: 1/2 cup (or more) of probiotic sour cream, vegan sour cream, heavy cream or cashew cream. (see notes)

• Garnish: Crispy celery leaves, nigella seeds, hemp seeds (all optional, but delicious!)

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a big pot over medium-high heat

2. Add the onion, stirring occasionally, letting the onions get golden, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and stir 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.

4. Add the celery, potatoes, broth, water, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and cayenne. The liquid should just cover the veggies ( if not, add a little more water). Cover, bring to a rolling boil, turn heat down and simmer gently until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.

5. Turn heat off, remove bay leaf and add the fresh herbs and just wilt them (don’t cook herbs or you lose the vibrant color!)

6. Using an immersion blender blend until very silky smooth – OR if using a regular blender, let cool before blending in smaller batches. ( If blending warm soup, fill blender no more than halfway full, cover tightly with a lid and kitchen towel, holding it down firmly, when you start the motor (on the lowest setting, working up gradually) to prevent a blender “explosion”).

7. Blend well, a full minute, until herbs are fully blended, creating a vibrant colored soup. For extra “green” color, add a handful of raw baby spinach if you like, or more fresh parsley.

8. Place it back in the same pot over low heat. Stir in your choice of sour cream, or any of the other options. Gently heat, careful to not over-simmer, or you may lose the lovely vibrant color.

9. To make the crispy celery leaves, heat a generous amount of olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Wait until the oil is hot. Fry a “tester” celery leaf for 10-20 seconds on each side. Set on a paper towel. If it is crisp, continue on. Adding a few at a time, not overly crowding.  If not crisp, fry them a little longer. You want about 3-5 leaves per serving bowl. In the same oil, you could fry the nigella seeds until you just begin to hear popping. Turn heat off.  Arrange the crispy celery leaves in a crescent shape. Spoon a little of the nigella seeds along with a little oil in the same shape. Sprinkle with hemp seeds if you like.

Recipe Notes: Sylvia

1. Oftentimes I’ll skip the dairy completely and make this with cashews, cooked right in the soup.
   Sometimes I’ll make it with sour cream, giving it a delicious tanginess and extra richness.
   Traditionally, it’s made with butter and heavy cream, which is totally fine too. Up to you!
   Do what feels best.

2. Croutons are always a nice option, as well as my new favorite, halloumi croutons, or millet croutons if going grain-free.

3. The crispy celery leaves are a beautiful touch and are really simple to make too.

4. Nigella Seeds are often used in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking and offer up a pungent, oniony-peppery, herbal flavor, that is especially nice when toasted in a little oil.  Sometimes they are called black cumin or black caraway seeds.

5. They are not imperative to the recipe, but if you have Nigella seeds, try them out-they will elevate!

6. And if you are curious about the health benefits of celery – they are numerous! Celery fights inflammation, lowers cholesterol, lowers blood pressure and is super high in antioxidants, just to name a few.

7. Health benefits aside, I personally just really loooooooove the flavor. I am one of those people who fill celery stalks with almond butter and sprinkle them with sea salt and fresh cracked pepper. A tasty snack!
   As common as celery is, it truly is a flavor enhancer.

Comments: Greg

• August 2024
  I did not quite get the recipe right (id not see the Add section early enough but I can recover
  And I could not even find the  bay leaf let alone remove it so it got blitzed!
  Made this batch to freeze, got 7 servings out of it
  So when we thaw and heat the soup, the Add section comes in to play! Wewill try with sour cream first
  Katrina things that it might help to like celery to love this soup...