Celeriac Soup with Toasted Hazelnuts & Truffle Oil
Serves: 4
Cost CuttingFreezes WellQuick Make
Looking for the perfect starter to your Christmas dinner? Congratulations - you've found it.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oilknob of butter
3 echalion shallots, finely diced
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 celeriac, peeled and diced
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp lemon thyme leaves
1 lt vegetable stock
100g blanched hazelnuts, toasted (see Cook’s Tip)
2 tbsp crème fraîche
½ lemon
truffle oil, for drizzling
method:
- Heat the oil and butter in a medium saucepan. Cook the shallots and celery for 3-4 minutes until beginning to soften. Add the garlic and cook for one minute more.
- Add the celeriac, potato, bay leaf and thyme and cook for one minute. Pour over the stock, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.
- Remove the pan from the heat and take out the bay leaf. Add about three quarters of the hazelnuts, then chop the remaining nuts and set aside. Blend the soup with a stick blender until smooth, stir in the crème fraîche and blend again.
- Add a squeeze of lemon then ladle into bowls. Serve scattered with the reserved hazelnuts and drizzled with the truffle oil. (To toast hazelnuts, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Spread the nuts over a baking tray and place in the oven for about five minutes until golden.)
