Recipe #31 - Fennel-Celeriac Soup

Celeriac, also known as celery root, is a bizarre-looking vegetable item which most people would reject out of hand upon inspection at the grocery store, let alone include it in their dinner plans. In its raw state, it's gnarly, dirty, knobby and strange.

However, once you trim away all the ugly stuff and get to the sweet interior, celeriac is a wonderful addition to many recipes, including this smooth, elegant soup.

Makes eight servings.

1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow sweet onion, peeled and diced
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 large celery root, trimmed down to just the green center and diced
2 medium fennel bulb, trimmed and chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and diced

2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups low-fat milk
2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
4 oz. neufchatel reduced fat cream cheese

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
Salt & pepper

In a large soup pot, heat the butter and olive oil and add the onions and garlic. Saute for a few minutes until soft, then add the celeriac, fennel and potato. Saute the vegetables until softened, about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle in the flour and stir until incorporated into the veggies. Add the milk and stock, and heat the soup over medium heat until it thickens a bit. Break the cream cheese into small pieces, add to the soup, and continue heating, stirring often until the cream cheese has melted and the soup is thick and hot. Add the herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer soup for a few minutes more.

Now it's time to smooth out the soup. If you use a blender or food processor, make sure to allow the soup to cool somewhat before buzzing it. We prefer to use a hand-held immersion blender, which makes the process much easier as the soup never leaves the pot and you have less clean-up later. The immersion blender doesn't quite do as good a job of perfectly smoothing out the soup, but we like the trade-off in time and clean-up.

You could add some sour cream or pesto drizzle to each bowl. Obviously, this soup would go well with some hot sourdough bread and a green salad.