Celeriac Soup with Kale & Truffle Pesto

I officially declare this the last soup recipe of the season. Now that the evenings are getting lighter and the weather is perking up a little, we won't need their warming qualities much longer. But this one was so good that I just had to share!

The soup itself is smooth, velvety and has a delicious depth of flavour. Celeriac is a corker of a root and I love it both cooked and raw. It'll be perfect for slaws and salads going into Summer! My Kale pesto is tinged with Truffle oil which gives it a real earthiness. This pesto recipe made just over a ramekin of pesto, this was enough to garnish 2 soups and also dress pasta the following night.

To serve 3 comfortably, or 4 as a starter, you will need:

For the soup:

1 large Celeriac

1 large white Onion

2 sprigs of Thyme

2 Celery sticks

1 litre Mushroom stock

Smoked salt (optional)

Black Pepper

1 tbsp Coconut Oil

For the pesto:

Handful of Kale leaves

1 small clove of Garlic, crushed

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tbsp Pine nuts

2 tsp Truffle oil (optional)

To garnish:

1 tbsp Pine Nuts (toasted)

First roughly dice the onion and slice the celery sticks. Melt the coconut oil in a deep saucepan set on a medium heat. Add the onion and celery to the pan, mix through the thyme leaves (no stalks) and let soften for 10-12 minutes. You are only looking to soften the onions, not to brown them.

Use a large knife to cut away the rough outer of the head of Celeriac. Chop roughly into inch-wide cubes and add to the pan with the onion and celery. Mix together and cook for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. 

Make up a litre of stock - I like to use Mushroom stock as it's not at all overpowering and the slight earthiness works well in this soup. You can use any vegetarian stock you like to use. I try to make my own vegetable stock regularly to freeze but when I run out I use 'Kallo - Organic Mushroom Stock' as they're the best shop-bought stock cubes I've tried. Add the stock to the pan and bring to the boil then let simmer for at least 30 minutes. Take off the heat and blend well using a hand blender. I often like a chunky soup but this one suits being super-smooth.

Now for the pesto! Put all of the ingredients into a mini blender and blitz until you have a coarse green paste. You can also do this in a pestle and mortar if you fancy using a bit of elbow grease. 

Before serving season the soup with a little salt and pepper. I used smoked salt but normal salt flakes or celery salt would be fine. The faint hint of smokiness worked well with the other flavours and if you haven't tried smoked salt before then I urge you to - it's a dream with some mashed avocado, or many other things for that matter.

Serve the soup with a dollop or swirl of the pesto - what's your style? I'm a swirler, for sure - with a few toasted pine nuts to finish. You can use the grill or a small pan to toast the pine nuts in no more than a couple of minutes. 

Enjoy!

Autumnal Cauliflower, Chestnut & Portobello Soup

Now that I've discovered the joys of cauliflower it's really turning into an Autumn staple. This soup has a lovely, earthy flavour and is so creamy you'd swear there was cream in it. I've used my blender which makes the texture of the soup as smooth as velvet, but a hand blender would do the trick too. This recipe would serves 4 as a starter, or 2/3 as a main.

My obliging husband picked up a good load of Chestnuts at the weekend - coming to a forest floor near you - and while chatting over their potential uses this (rather delicious) idea cropped up. I love using foraged food in my kitchen - i've utilised Nettles, Blackberries and Chesnuts in the past, but I'm not convinced enough of my (very limited) Mushroom knowledge to use those just yet. But the best bit about foraging is that it's basically free produce, and I'm not one to pass up a freebie. 

 For this recipe you will need:

1 head of Cauliflower

2 x Portobello Mushrooms

Approx. 160g Chestnuts 

500ml vegetable stock

3 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tsp Coconut Oil

Salt Flakes

Black Peppercorns

Dill (to garnish)

Firstly set your oven to 200c and score the skin of your chestnuts one-by-one down the middle. Put them in a baking tray and roast for 30 minutes. The skin will start to curl up as they are cooking. Once roasted, you will need to peel away and discard the brown outer, keeping the cream-coloured innard for the soup.

Line a large tray with foil and break up the whole Cauliflower, discarding the leaves and breaking the florets into manageable pieces. Lay these out on the foil and drizzle with approximately 3 tbsp Olive Oil. Season generously with Salt flakes & coarsely ground Black Peppercorns and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes until tender. If at any point during roasting the edges are starting to blacken I would suggest covering with foil and lowering the heat to 190c. You want them to end up golden rather than charred.

Slice up your Portobello Mushrooms, and keep 2 (or one for each serving) slices to the side for garnishing later. Heat 1 tsp Coconut Oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Keep moving the mushrooms around the pan while they fry, around 10 minutes, until the edges are browning nicely.

Once you have cooked all of the ingredients, put them all in the blender with another teaspoon of coarsely ground pepper and a sprinkle of salt. Add a little of the vegetable stock at a time, 500ml should do the trick if you like a thicker, velvety soup but by all means add more if you like - it will certainly make it go further.

Heat the soup gently in a pan until piping hot but not bubbling and season to taste - I like mine super-peppery. Fry the 2 remaining pieces of mushroom using Coconut Oil until they are crisp & golden. Use as a garnish to top the soup with a sprig of Dill.

Enjoy & Happy Halloween all!