Today’s guest post is from Becky at Veghotpot – a blog about inventive, interesting and above all gorgeous veggie food. I am often inspired by posts on Becky’s blog so I was delighted when she offered to write one for me! It is a very seasonal recipe (I’m rubbish at being seasonal) and I think you’re going to enjoy it. Without further ado…
When Carol Anne said she was looking for people to write Guest Posts whilst she took part in NaNoWriMo I jumped at the chance! Not only are we both from the UK but were both into our Rock music and we both love good food 🙂 I decided for this post I would make my first soup of the colder seasons and I instantly thought about my current favourite vegetable, the celeriac. It is really quite an ugly looking thing but it tastes delicious, especially when roasted it tastes just like a parsnip! The other great thing about celeriac is that they are very low fat, low calories and low carb (unlike potatoes) and it is high in Iron and Vitamin C.
This soup has a wonderfully creamy texture without any added cream and I have made a porcini and chilli dust which adds a little kick to the soup (and I think it looks cute and sparkly like glitter), just use it sparingly if you’re not into your spice! This porcini dust is also great as a steak rub!! It gives the steak tonnes of flavour and if griddled it helps give it a slightly chargrilled finish.
Anyway back to the soup … I wanted this soup to be really rustic so I added porcini mushrooms to the flavour blend and also I used walnuts as croutons, not only are they much healthier than having bread croutons but they add a lovely rich flavour and a nice bit of crunch! If you’re not a fan of nuts you can use walnut bread as croutons for a similar effect. Finally I also added a big dollop of plain yoghurt, I’ve always seen this being done with soups but I’ve never tried it before. I’ve been joining in with the Vegan MoFo over on my blog and now it’s over I realised I can go back to using a little bit of dairy here and there so this was a perfect time to give it a go 🙂
Serves 6
- 800g Peeled Celeriac (unpeeled weight is roughly 1.170kg).
The easiest way to peel a celeriac is to slice the bottom off so that you have a flat edge to place the celeriac down on your chopping board. Then take a sharp knife and run it down the edge of the celeriac to peel off the rough skin.
- 1 Large Leek
- 1 Large Onion
- 2 Garlic
- 30g Dried Porcini Mushrooms (put 2 mushrooms from the pack to one side to make your dust)
- 1.2 litres Vegetable Stock
- Handful Walnuts for each bowl
- 1 Dried Red Chilli
- Natural/ Plain Yoghurt
Soak the dried mushrooms (except the ones you’ve put aside for your dust) in 200ml boiling water and put to one side. In a small blender add the dried chilli and the dried mushrooms that you kept aside and blitz. Put this to one side to sprinkle on the finished soup.
Dice/ Slice your leek, onion and garlic. Leeks need to be washed really carefully so I slice it then wash it to get the grit out of all the layers! Chop the celeriac into 1inch pieces. In a large saucepan heat some oil and add your onions and leeks and soften for 4-5 minutes then add your garlic and celeriac and cook for a further 5-7 minutes.
Strain the soaked mushrooms but keep the soaking water and add the mushrooms to the pan. Pass the soaking water through a sieve to remove any sediment then add to the pan with the vegetable stock and stir well.
Put a lid on and simmer for 15 minutes, after that time check if the celeriac is soft and if not then cook for a further 3-5 minutes until the celeriac is soft and breaks with a fork.
Blend the soup, if it looks a bit mushy then a great tip is to pass the soup through a sieve. This smoothes the texture out and gives it a lovely gloss! Serve the soup into bowls and place a dollop of yoghurt in the middle of each bowl, sprinkle with the mushroom glitter and scatter walnuts. Done!
Thank you again to Carol Anne for letting me do a guest post, I hope you have all enjoyed it 🙂
Thank *you* Becky, this soup looks amazing! I love the sound of mushroom glitter – anything mushroom related is a big hit with me. The walnuts really make this soup interesting, too, and so perfect for the freezy weather we’ve been getting. Maybe along with a giant wedge of fresh bread…
Rock Salt 