CREAM OF CELERY SOUP WITH RUSTIC CROUTONS & CELERY LEAF SALSA VERDE

Last weekend I made another recipe from the Two Dudes, One Pan cookbook, a big pot of bolognese.  I was going to post it but something about it made me feel a little indifferent, despite the fact that three different people who devoured a bowl of it ladled over a tangle of linguine enthused that it was outstanding.  I need to think about it, maybe make it again.  Anyway, the recipe called for one stalk of celery.  I sort of hate when a recipe calls for a miniscule amount of something that you can only buy in bulk.  Am I right?  Who's with me?  Let's see some hands.  

Standing in the produce section at Bristol Farms I surveyed the heads of celery.  I so didn't want to buy a whole head.  I wondered if it was possible to break off one stalk and have them ring it up separately OR if they were so kind, they'd just give it to me for free.  I didn't even end up asking.  One head of celery only cost a dollar something so I ended up just going for it.  I figured I figure out what to do with the rest later.  But what?  What to do with so much celery?  Smear it with peanut butter and enjoy it as a healthy snack?  I think not.

The idea of soup came up early on, but it seemed sort of dull.  I mean celery, although hardworking in the kitchen, is kind of a dull vegetable and to turn it into soup?  It had the potential to be a big, steaming bowl of DULL.  But I decided to just go ahead and make it into soup.  I mean what else would I do with so much celery before it turns flaccid and I have to toss it in the garbage. 

I looked online for some inspiration and ended up combining three different recipes - one from Martha Stewart, one from Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger that I found on the Food Network website (although theirs calls for celery ROOT, which I'm sure would be fantastic).  The salsa verde recipe comes from the Zuni Cafe cookbook.  I've been wanting to make it forever but was unsure what to serve it with.  It turned out that this soup was the perfect marriage.  It also turned out this soup was far from dull.  Despite the fact that I had had no intention of posting this recipe and as such took no process photos, I felt I had to put it on the site.  Not that you need instructional photos for this.  Trust me, it's pretty much just chopping and stirring.

INGREDIENTS

(for the soup)

1 stick unsalted butter

1 cup shallots, chopped

4 cups celery, chopped

1 medium russet potato, peeled and diced

Kosher salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon celery seed

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 cup dry vermouth or dry white wine

5 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

(for the croutons)

1 6-inch long piece of baguette

2 tablespoons olive oil

(for the salsa verde)

2 tablespoons tightly packed finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

1/4 cup tightly packed chopped celery leaves

2 tablespoons finely diced, pale yellow inner celery stalks

2 tablespoons capers, rinsed, pressed between paper towels and coarsely chopped

zest of 1 lemon equalling about 1 teaspoon, plus juice to taste

1 teaspoon finely diced red jalapeno

1 tablespoon fine diced red onion

2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped

About 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

METHOD

Melt the butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the shallots, celery, and potato, stirring to coat the vegetables with the melted butter.  Partially cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the garlic, celery seed, and cayenne pepper and cook for 1 minute.  Add the vermouth, stir to combine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated off.  Add the stock, cover the pot and turn the heat up to high, to bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are very tender, stirring occasionally.

Puree the soup in batches in a blender until very smooth.  Pour through a fine sieve, pressing with the back of a ladle to extract as much of the liquid as possible.  Return the soup to the pot, stir and taste, adjusting the seasonings if need be.  It'll probably need salt.  Let the soup stay hot over low heat while you make the croutons and salsa verde.  Just before serving the soup, add the cream.

To make the croutons, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Tear the baguette into bite-size rough pieces and place on a rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle with the olive oil, toss to coat and the place in the oven to bake until golden and crisp, about 8 minutes.  You might want to give them a stir about halfway through.

To make the salsa verde combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl.  Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more salt, pepper, or lemon juice if desired.  Set aside so the flavors can mingle.

To serve, ladle into shallow bowls.  Scatter in a few croutons and spoon over some of the salsa verde.  Grind over some black pepper and serve.

I was pleasantly surprised by this soup.  I guess I had low expectations.  I mean, the only cream of celery soup I'd been familiar with was Campbell's and more often than not, it was an ingredient in a casserole.  Well this is nothing like that.  The celery has a bright, clean, fresh flavor that is juxtaposed by the creamy richness of the soup.  It's all about balance and complimentary flavors and textures.  The velvety texture of the soup, let's be honest, can be a little plain on its own.  But the addition of the lightly crispy, ragged croutons and the salsa verde takes it to another level.  The salsa verde adds another layer of delicate celery flavor and texture, while the capers infuse it with a briny tang.

The soup is hearty enough for a meal, although I always tend to think of pureed soups as started courses, which is what I'm planning to do for the very first Thanksgiving dinner I'm hosting in the new house.  Excitement!  It would be a great precursor to poultry - a nice roast chicken or game hens (in keeping with the elegant feel).  Wine and a big salad would perfect round out the meal.

Serves 4 to 6

Comments

[Erik]

Well, that's a tasty way to use up celery!
Although I have found myself in the same quandary, and I just read something this morning that made so much sense to me that I wondered why I never thought of it myself.
Simply chop up all the celery as though you were making a massive amount of mirepoix, and freeze one meal's worth in individual sandwich bags. Saves time, money and food!
(Or you could just make cream of celery soup...)

[Heather Rascona]

oh, wow! what a great use for celery! i'll bet this freezes well... I'm always looking for other ways to have cream soups on hand... I love using them in sauces and stuff.

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I love the celery in the salsa verde. Am bookmarking this: thanks!

[Big Boys Oven]

Just love this soup of yours, always craving for a good quality soup!

[Maggie]

Interesting! I always assumed Cream of Celery soup would be from celery root only! Nice work.

[Jesse]

My hand is raised high... although usually I just cut the base off the celery and put it in a glass of water like a flower arrangement and eat the stalks when I need snacks... but this sounds infinitely better. I'll definitely have to try that salsa.

[mona]

I have the same trouble, in the past I've just chopped and frozen the celery to use later, but I like this idea better, thanks Grant!

[Andrea]

I made this last night and it was wonderful! Thanks for posting!

[Ann and John]

We tried this soup, crouton, and salsa combo and loved it. We made some vegetarian and lower fat alterations including using no-chicken broth and vegetable broth (4:1) rather than chicken stock and adding 1/2 cup of fat-free half and half (and a few teaspoons of flour to thicken)instead of heavy cream. We also substituted 4-5 thinly-sliced pitted kalamata olives for the anchovies in the salsa.
Thanks for the basic recipes. What a unique and delicious combo.

[Bonnie]

Actually, a whole "bunch" of celery IS called a stalk. One piece of celery is a rib. I'm glad you used the whole thing, because celery has such a delicate flavor a batch of soup would need that much to be outstanding and ever so tasty!

[Atomica]

I made this last night--just the soup. It turned out great. I haven't seen vermouth in other cream of celery soup recipes, so I was drawn to yours. Thanks!

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Celery is a great help in hypertension because it is rich in potassium, dilates renal vessels, increases the amount of urine and calm the nervous system. Celery has laxative properties thanks to its fiber.

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I made this last night--just the soup. It turned out great. I haven't seen vermouth in other cream of celery soup recipes, so I was drawn to yours. Thanks!

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