An easy to make soup for a winter’s evening. Jonny (Organiclea co-op member and regular Hornbeam cook) made this last Saturday night for our monthly Fork to Fork Supper club at the Hornbeam cafe. The evening is a three course celebration of produce from Hawkwood Plant Nursery and other local growers who we work closely with for our box scheme and market stalls. This week’s celeriac came from Woodlands Biodynamic Farm in Lincolnshire. Celariac is related to celery though you can’t eat the leaves. The root is often clotted with soil, especially if it’s from a clay region and a quick soak before scrubbing can work wonders. Any stringy roots that you cut off to clean thoroughly can be kept and used in this soup or for future stocks.
Ingredients: 3 onions fine chopped 500g celeriac hard scrubbed and fine sliced 500ml vegetable stock Herb of choice – thyme/sage/rosemary Seasoning – pepper/salt/soy sauce
Sauté the onions in olive oil ‘til translucent. Add the celeriac and gently fry stirring for 2 mins. Then turn heat to its lowest and add a lid so that the celeriac and onions sweat in their own juices, stirring occasionally till soft. Add stock and just one herb (so as not to overpower the delicate flavour). Blend. Season to taste.
Note from Jonny: I find it much easier to give the celeriac a good hard scrub than to peel it and because it is organic the peel has lots of goodness therein!
