Light Winter Celery soup with blue cheese recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Starters and Soups | 8 comments
Tiny hands clap with glee at the cottage when the winter celery season begins. This celery has been traditionally grown on the Fens since Victorian times. It is now grown in other parts of England too. It is the most celery tasting celery that you will ever find. Great with cheese, and superb for soup, stocks, stir fries and casseroles.
The winter celery season runs from now up until Christmas. And it is top of the shopping list for the next few fleeting weeks. We make vast batches of winter celery soup and generally languish in a surfeit of celery. We have a great recipe for an oven baked winter celery soup and I thought I would try making a lighter winter celery soup on the hob today to go with the gorgonzola that I found knocking about in the fridge.
The result was a delicious, light, crisp and the perfect foil for the gorgonzola. It would probably be better with crumbly Stilton. Easy British food at its best.
Light Winter Celery soup with blue cheese recipe (serves 4-6)
Ingredients:
- 2 heads of winter celery (sliced) all small leaves reserved for garnish (chopped fine)
- 400g of shallots (sliced)
- 245g of potatoes (sliced)
- 1-2 tblsp of rape seed oil
- 1.25 litres of chicken stock (or water with 1 chicken stock cube and two tsp of Marigold vegetable stock powder.
- 60g of strong blue cheese
- A good tablespoon of lemon juice. Will enhance the flavour, added towards the end. No need to add salt!
Method:
- Heat the rapeseed oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan.
- Peel and slice the shallots and sweat for 15 minutes.
- Add the sliced celery and stir for a few seconds before adding the stock and the sliced poatoes.
- Bring to simmering point and simmer for 30 minutes or so, until the vegetables are really tender.
- Add the lemon juice and some freshly milled white pepper to taste.
- Crumble the blue cheese and scatter this on the surface of each warmed bowl of soup with a large handfull of finely chopped celery leaves to give texture to the soup.
Leave a reply
Hi Pat,
So pleased that the jelly and membrillo worked for you! Comte cheese would combine well with membrillo.
I must try making your sourdough rolls!
Hi Mildred,
I love winter celery soup too! We had it for lunch.
Hi Emma,
What a shame that you don’t like celery.
Thanks for the feedback on the apple chutney recipe!
Your soup looks lovely; I wish I liked celery. I grew up on the Fens/Northamptonshire border, and we often had celery courtesy of my Granddad who grew amazing veggies – the celery always looked so fresh and green but I hated the smell, and the taste of it raw.
I just made a big batch of apple chutney using your recipe – it’s divine!
We just had our supper – Celery Soup! Thanks for reminding me how delicious this soup!
The jelly and membrillo are Brill!!!!! 🙂 They are going beautiful with some Comte cheese and sourdough rolls I made. Thanks for the lovely recipes!!!
Thanks Amanda!!
I did buy some celery at the store last. Can’t wait to try this soup!!!
Hi Pat,
Hope that the jelly and membrillo went well!
Hi Amanda,
Yes blue cheese works so well in soup. What a shame that you don’t like celery.
Hi Celia,
Fen celery is wonderful. I remember those glass jars.
Oh I love fen grown celery – those great big clumps of celery with the black soil still sticking to them. It reminds me of Sunday tea time at my Grandparents – with the celery in one of those glass vases and a big lump of stilton.
I wish I liked celery. I do love blue cheese in soup though.
Good luck to Pat too with making the jelly.
The soup sounds Yummy Fiona, going on my must try list. Off to the store today to pick up some sugar. Found some quinces and going to give your jelly and membrillo recipes a try today. Wish me luck!!!