← Nouns Cooking · Soup Pot

Ingredients

• 30 g Butter
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 500 g celery (about 1 head), leaves kept, sliced, stringy bits removed
• 1 clove Garlic, sliced
• 250 g Potato, peeled and diced
• 750 ml vegetable stock
• 150 ml Milk
• 50 ml Double (heavy) cream (optional)
• 1 pinch Nutmeg
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion and celery with a pinch of salt, cover and sweat for 10 min, stirring now and then, until soft but not browned.
2. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, then add the potato and stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 min, until the potato is very soft.
3. Add the milk and blend until completely smooth. For an extra-silky soup, push it through a sieve to catch any celery strings.
4. Reheat gently, stir in the cream if using, and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
5. Serve scattered with chopped celery leaves.

Tips

• Use the pale inner sticks and leaves for the sweetest flavour; the dark outer ones can be bitter.
• Swap the butter for olive oil and the milk for oat milk to make it vegan. Check the stock is gluten-free if you need it to be. Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate within 2 hours and reheat until piping hot.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

BBC Good Food olive magazine The Daring Gourmet