This version of Celery soup is a lighter version than the previous one published. It is also a vegetarian recipe and is also not so thick, making it very suitable for serving as the weather gets warmer.

The Celery leaves are strongly flavoured and are often discarded in cooking, but in soup making they are great to add at the end for additional flavour and to add texture to the soup.

Apart from making a great soup Celery is also reckoned to be beneficial to your health:

• It is one of the lowest calorie foods you can eat
• Helps you feel fuller for longer
• Keeps bloating at bay
• Reduces blood pressure
• Helps maintain a healthy digestive system
• Helps slow progression of dementia
• Can help protect against cancer
• Aids a good night’s sleep

Ingredients

2 heads of Celery
1/2 Celeriac
4/5 Garlic cloves, roughly chopped
4 Vegetable stock cubes
Salt to taste
Bunch of fresh Parsley
Freshly ground Black pepper
Water

Method

• Head of Celery

  Celeriac

  To make the soup I use an 8 pint pan.
  
  
• Remove the leaves from the celery heart and reserve.
  
  
• Clean your celery stalks and chop into pieces and add to your pan.
  
  
• Peel your half of Celeriac and cut into cubes. Add to the pan.
  
  
• Peel and roughly chop your garlic cloves. (You can use more or less according to your tastes.) Add to the pan.
  
  
• Add water to your pan to bring the level to one inch form the top. Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer for about 30 minutes.
  
  
• Add three of vegetable stock cubes (I prefer Knorr). Once dissolved decide whether to add the fourth stock cube.
  
  
• Taste and season with salt.
  
  
• Finely chop your Parsley (plenty of it) and add to pan. Add a generous few twists of freshly ground black pepper. Continue to simmer for a further two or three minutes and then remove from the heat.
  
  
• Remove half the solids and then liquidise your soup either in a liquidiser (will need to do in batches) or with a hand-held liquidiser so that a smooth consistency is achieved.
  
  
• Finely chop your celery leaves and add to pan. Simmer for another five minutes.
  
  
• Serve immediately or leave to cool and store in the fridge and reheat as required. If not using all at once only reheat the amount you need each time and not the whole pan of soup.

Serves 8

Making anything like this does not require you to use precise amounts so do not worry too much about weighing or the size of the ingredients. If your Celeriac is big half will do but if small then use the whole thing. The Celeriac, as well as adding flavour, helps to thicken the soup when you liquidise it.

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