After the holidays I am always reminded, ever so un-gently, that I do not have the metabolism of a supermodel- or even myself 10 years ago. As I squeezed into my jeans this morning to run the bubs to school, I sighed. To honor all that I gained by losing it as quickly and deliciously as possible, here is one of my favorite soups- The subltey of the celery, a veg that usually I throw into a pot as a flavor base, really shines when its left on its own to develop. The key to this dish is to allow the celery and leek to warm gently with the heat, so adding it to a cold pot is essential.
The List
4-5 stalks of celery, hearts and leaves separated
1 small leek, white part only, finely diced
1 tbs of good olive oil
2 tbs of unsalted butter
1 tbs of salt- or more depending on your preference
4 cups of good quality vegetable broth
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
Cut celery hearts into long matchsticks and then finely dice
Rough chop the celery leaves, about 1/2 cup worth
Combine the leeks and celery hearts in a deep soup pot with the oil and butter and bring to med-low heat.
Once the heat has gently cooked the celery and leek, add in leaves and salt.
Saute the leaves until wilted and combined and then add in the broth
Cook over low heat for 30 minutes and remove to a food processor or blender and puree
Add heavy cream if desired and pulse once more to combine-
Serve and Enjoy~
*optional method is to omit cream and pulse the soup but keep a bit chunky. leftover suateed italian sausage or ground turkey makes a great addition to the soup for a heartier version-
* option 2: if you are a serious cook and want to explore the variations of flavor with different levels of heat, try pureeing a few stalks of fresh celery and adding to the base once you place it in the blender or food processor. It brightens the dish well.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 6th, 2010 at 11:37 am and is filed under Recent Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
