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A silky winter soup that proves the most overlooked vegetables are often the most rewarding, finished with a drizzle of fragrant walnut oil that deepens every spoonful.
Celery root is not beautiful. It arrives at the winter market looking like something unearthed rather than grown, all knobs and roots and dirt-caked skin. Most people walk past it. This is a mistake.
Beneath that rough exterior lives creamy white flesh with a flavor somewhere between celery and parsley, subtle and clean with an earthiness that deepens when cooked. Transformed into soup, it becomes something elegant. The texture turns silky without cream doing all the work. The flavor stays honest.
I first made this soup in February, when the market stalls held little else but roots and winter greens. A farmer I trusted handed me a celery root the size of a softball and said it was the best of the season. He was right. The soup I made that evening tasted like winter itself, grounded and warming, with a nuttiness that seemed to ask for walnut oil.
This is not a soup that hides behind technique. You are cooking vegetables in good stock, then blending until smooth. The walnut oil at the end is everything. It must be fresh and fragrant, the kind that smells like toasted nuts when you open the bottle. If your walnut oil smells like nothing, it has gone rancid. Find a better one.
Quantity
2 pounds (about 2 medium)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
Quantity
1 large
white and pale green parts only, cleaned and sliced
Quantity
1 medium
diced
Quantity
2 cloves
smashed
Quantity
1 medium
peeled and cubed
Quantity
6 cups
Quantity
1
Quantity
3 sprigs
Quantity
1/2 cup
Quantity
to taste
Quantity
to taste
Quantity
3 tablespoons
for finishing
Quantity
for serving
finely snipped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| celery root | 2 pounds (about 2 medium) |
| unsalted butter | 2 tablespoons |
| leekwhite and pale green parts only, cleaned and sliced | 1 large |
| yellow oniondiced | 1 medium |
| garlicsmashed | 2 cloves |
| Yukon Gold potatopeeled and cubed | 1 medium |
| homemade chicken or vegetable stock | 6 cups |
| bay leaf | 1 |
| fresh thyme | 3 sprigs |
| heavy cream | 1/2 cup |
| fine sea salt | to taste |
| white pepper | to taste |
| walnut oilfor finishing | 3 tablespoons |
| fresh chives (optional)finely snipped | for serving |
Set the celery root on a cutting board and slice off the top and bottom to create flat surfaces. Stand it upright and carve away the skin in strips, following the curve of the root. Do not be timid. The skin is thick and fibrous, and you will lose some flesh. Cut the peeled root into rough one-inch cubes. They do not need to be precise because everything will be pureed.
Melt the butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the leek and onion with a pinch of salt. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about eight minutes. You want sweetness, not color. If they begin to brown, lower the heat. Add the garlic and cook one minute more until fragrant.
Add the celery root and potato to the pot. Stir to coat with the butter. Pour in the stock. It should just cover the vegetables. If not, add water until it does. Tuck in the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Let the soup simmer uncovered for thirty to thirty-five minutes. The celery root is done when a knife slides through with no resistance. The potato will be soft. The kitchen will smell clean and earthy. Remove the bay leaf and thyme stems.
Puree the soup in batches using a blender, or use an immersion blender directly in the pot. Blend longer than you think necessary. The texture should be completely smooth, almost satiny when you lift the spoon. A few extra minutes of blending transforms good soup into something extraordinary.
Return the pureed soup to the pot over low heat. Stir in the cream and warm gently. Taste. Season with salt and white pepper until the flavors brighten. The soup should taste distinctly of celery root with a subtle richness from the cream. It should not taste like cream.
Ladle the hot soup into warmed bowls. Drizzle each serving with about a teaspoon and a half of walnut oil in a slow spiral. The oil should pool on the surface, golden and fragrant. Scatter a few snipped chives over the top. Serve immediately while the steam still rises.
1 serving (about 420g)
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