Potato Celery Root Soup

Celery root is abundant throughout the fall and winter in the Pacific Northwest and if you, like me, try to eat both seasonally and locally then this might very well be abundant where you are too.    Like most potato based soups, this one is creamy and lightly earthy and with the addition of celery root it also has a wonderful delicate celery flavor.  Seasoning should to be taste but kept simple.  I like to add milk to my creamy potato based soups but I’ve also made them without the milk and it’s very good, so it’s worth making if you’re vegan.  The cheese garnish is optional if you’re not me.

Potato Celery Root Soup

Ingredients:

3 large starchy potatoes (either Russets or a similar type), diced medium

1 whole celery root, diced medium

1 giant carrot, diced medium

2 quarts vegetable or chicken broth, or water

Salt to taste

Pepper, about a kazillion grinds

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup of 2% milk, optional

Cheddar cheese garnish, optional

Method:

Heat up the olive oil and butter in a soup pot on medium high heat, then add all the vegetables at once.  Stirring frequently, saute the vegetables until they very slightly brown (about 10 minutes on my burner).  Don’t let them burn.  Add the stock (or water) and make sure nothing has stuck to the bottom of the pot.  Bring the soup to a boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer.  Cook until all the vegetables are soft and until the potatoes come apart easily.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Puree.

Recipe notes: With a delicate soup like this I would suggest the best choice for broth is vegetable or plain water.  Chicken would be alright, but beef broth would have too deep and heavy a taste of its own and may overpower the light flavors of the soup.  Always remember that a soup is highly personal and if you like it runnier than it turns out, add more liquid.  If you like it thicker, like I do, let it cook down a little bit.  There is no hard science to soup.  A lot of it is by preference and by feel.  I usually use more salt and pepper in this soup than my other soups.  I would say I use between 1 1/2 tsp and 2 tsp salt and I probably do about 40 grinds of pepper.  I use my immersion blender to blend it and don’t have to wait til it cools, but if you’re using a full size blender to puree the soup you’ll need to wait until it cools a bit or you might burn yourself.

To veganize this recipe all you need to do is use 2 tbsp of olive oil for the sauteing and don’t use the milk or add any cheese.  I promise it’s a very good soup without these additions.

This soup is gluten free through no merit or planning on my part.

4 thoughts on “Potato Celery Root Soup

  1. Kathy

    I love celery root! Sure wish it wasn’t so costly…$2.99lb and those babies are heavy. I tried to grow it last year with complete failure. Then I read El at fastgrowtheweeds had started hers inside her greenhouse and well, I do not have a greenhouse but there must be a way that I can grow them. I would feel so good being able to grow my own.

  2. stitchy1

    I’ve never tried growing celery root but I failed miserably at growing celery and I am imagining that they require a lot of the same things. A lot of steady watering is probably one of them. Yeah, the root is really expensive- this is why I feel very fortunate in my organic winter CSA share because we get one of those babies almost every week during parts of winter and I think it ends up being a lot less expensive from them. why not experiment this winter in doing celery root starts? You could start them early in a bright window sill with a heat mat, or you could devise a cloche for them out in the actual garden.

  3. sharon

    Posted on my birthday i feel I should try this soup! It certainly sounds delicious. And I just happen to have some goat milk cheddar- an expensive purchase I made on my birthday. But giant carrot? It brings to mind the carrots of Taiwan which were about six times the width of a normal large California carrot. Somehow I do not think this is what you have in mind but when discussing celery root all bets are off!

  4. stitchy1

    I think the carrot I used was pretty mammoth. Yes, you need to make this soup! It is a huge favorite of mine. You deserve the special cheddar.

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