Winter Warmer: Roasted Celeriac, Garlic and Thyme Soup

Our guest writer Jessie (aka mscooksalot) has loved cooking and exploring recipes for as long as she can remember. Passionate about real food, she wants to know what’s in it and where it comes from.  She believes that food is one of the greatest pleasures in life and can transform your experiences from the forgettable to the sublime. We asked her to help us kick start a healthy and happy New Year! 

If this isn’t soup weather I don’t know what is! When I’m feeling super organised and efficient -which doesn’t happen as often as I’d like - I make up a big batch of soup like this to keep me going for the week. It’s the perfect lunchtime meal - warming, filling and really nutritious too.

This soup is so simple to make that you might underestimate how ridiculously delicious it is. I used to make it by simmering everything in a big pot on the stove - but then I had the bright idea of roasting everything off instead. Roasted celeriac, onions, garlic and thyme are blended with chicken stock to make the smoothest, creamiest, most comforting of soups.

Celeriac must be the ugliest looking vegetable of all, but don’t let that put you off. It’s a great alternative to potato, but with far less calories and it has plenty of fibre, vitamins C, K and B6, along with potassium, magnesium and manganese. It has a sharp, slightly tangy flavour, but I find that roasting mellows it a bit and makes it slightly sweeter. This soup will sit happily in your fridge or 4 or 5 days, and also freezes well. This recipe makes about 6-8 bowls.

• Ingredients:

1 celeriac

2 onions

4 cloves of garlic

small bunch of thyme

light olive oil spray

sea salt and pepper

2 organic chicken or vegetable stock cubes

1.5 - 2 litres of boiling water

2 thick slices of best quality sourdough bread (I use Tartine bread)

20 g parmesan

crème fraîche

• Method:

Preheat oven to 200 C. Line a large baking sheet with tin foil.

Peel the celery with a small knife or vegetable peeler and chop into 1-2 inch pieces. Rinse under cold water.

Peel the onion and cut into large wedges. Leave the skin on the garlic cloves.

Spread the celeriac, onion and garlic out on the tray and sprinkle with the fresh thyme. Season with salt and plenty of pepper. Spray the olive oil or if you’re using a bottle, drizzle about 1-2 tablespoons over the veg and toss lightly.

Roast for 25 - 30 minutes, at which point everything should be beginning to brown. Take the garlic cloves out now to prevent them being overcooked.

Give everything a flip with a spatula and return to the oven for another 20 - 25 mins, or until the celeriac is caramelised and soft enough to squash with a fork.

Make your stock with about 1.25 litres of the boiling water.

Scoop the roasted veg into a blender. Peel the roasted garlic cloves and add them in as well. Add about half of your stock and blend. Depending on the size of your blender, you may have to do this in batches. You can of course use a stick blender too, but I find the jug blender seems to give a smoother texture to soups.

When all of your soup has been blended with all of the stock, add the rest of the water slowly until you get the consistency you prefer.

To make the croutons, cut the bread into cubes, drizzle or spray with a little olive oil and sprinkle with the freshly grated parmesan. I use a Microplane grater so a little goes a long way.

Bake at 200 C for about 10 minutes, but keep your eyes on it as it can catch and burn easily. So start checking it after 5 minutes just to be safe.

Serve the soup with a small dollop of crème fraîche and handful of the croutons. Enjoy!

Are you tempted to try out this recipe? What is your healthy eating fav? We’d love to hear all about it!

If you’d like to read more from Jessie, you can check out her blog here!