I love winter for soups, there is nothing so comforting, simple to make and adaptable as a good home made soup.
A soup is, please note, the ultimate justification for making stock with the bits of bones and veg which you would other wise discard. Stock is not something I use a lot of during the summer so I usually stock pile boxes of stock during the summer for winter soups.
Here is a tip, because everyone’s freezer space is limited, I usually strain off my stock in the summer, then put it back on the heat and reduce it by about a half.
This wonderfully concentrates the flavour, uses up a much smaller amount of freezer space, and you know, that when you thaw it for soup you can add an equal amount of water to the pot.

Celeriac is a real winner for soup, it is strange that it is still looked upon as an oddity in Ireland, although very widely available. It is Celery Stalks after all, the forced blanched shoots of Celeriac, which is the far more exotic version of the vegetable.

There is still some confusion how to treat this most adaptable vegetable.
The truth is that it can be boiled, fried, roast and mashed.
It can in fact do all those things a potato can do and is a great addition to the Christmas dinner.

For this recipe I have decided to combine the sweet smoothness of celeriac with the bite of celery and toasted almonds. (It too mightn’t be a bad choice for a starter for the Christmas dinner!)


Celeriac and Celery Soup with Toasted Almonds

1 (small or half large) head Celeriac
1 Head Celery
2 Leeks
1 Potato
60g (2 oz). Butter
1 Ltr (2 pints) Stock
60g (2 oz). Sliced Almonds

Open up head of Celery and rinse to remove any grit.
Take off the outer stalks and their leaves (about half of the head) and chop roughly.

Dice the heart finely with the inner stalks and leaves and put aside.

Peel and roughly chop the potato and celeriac
Remove any coarse green leaves from the leeks and slice down into rings.
Rinse these thoroughly in a colander in cold water (make sure you get rid of all the grit).

Put the celeriac, potato, leek with the outer celery stalks into a heavy pan which has a lid and cook them with the butter until they are soft.
(This will take 20 mts or so )
Add the stock and bring up to the boil.
Once it has boiled for a few minutes pour into a liquidiser and process until very smooth. Because celery strings can be difficult to destroy I usually push this soup through a sieve after liquidising. It should be smooth and creamy.
In a dry non-stick pan gently fry the almonds with the chopped celery heart until they brown a little at the edges.
Toss these back into the soup and reheat- you do not have to boil it as it may stick., taste and season with pepper and salt.

The crisp almonds and celery give this soup a terrific crunch.