Roast celery and fennel soup

Cooking this back to back with the other celery soup has given me a chance to compare them and although the first celery soup is delicious, this beats it hands down and will definitely be my go to recipe for celery soup in future. I didn’t use bacon in this one and didn’t miss it at all. Finally, it scores bonus points for being both low fat and filling. A definite keeper!

Ingredients – serves four hungry people

1 head (about 1/2 pound or 2 cups) of celery, chopped
1 bulb of fennel, sliced
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 leek, diced (you can use onion instead)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon butter
1 litre (4 cups) of chicken or vegetable stock – made with a stock cube is fine
3 teaspoons dried parsley or thyme (5-6 teaspoons if you’re using fresh herbs)
Oil
Worcestershire sauce
Seasoning

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200° (400° / gas mark 6).
Prepare all of the vegetables, quickly rinse the chopped leek.
Put all of the vegetables apart from the potatoes into a bowl and pour on a glug of olive oil plus 2-3 teaspoons dried thyme. Stir to coat the vegetables with the oil then transfer to a large roasting pan and roast for 40-60 minutes or until the vegetables are starting to brown.
Meanwhile add the butter and a little oil to a good sized saucepan and cook the diced potatoes over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until softening.
Add the stock, bring to the boil then simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
Take off the heat and add the cooked roast vegetables to the pan.
Using a stick blender (or your preferred method), puree the soup, adding the worcestershire sauce and adjusting the seasoning to taste.
Serve immediately with a large chunk of crusty bread.

Notes

Double up and freeze leftovers in single portions for a lovely lunchtime treat (it works really well in thermos flasks).
Served with a crusty bread and a selection of cheeses makes for a wonderful supper.

8 folk with very good taste liked this recipe!