Celeriac Soup with Butter and Toasted Hazelnuts

Ingredients

1 large celeriac (sometimes called celery root)

1 bunch celery hearts (leaves included)

1 medium-sized yellow onion

1 green apple

1 cube of vegetable stock

6 cups of water

4 tablespoons of butter

½ cup of hazelnuts

Preparation

Begin by preparing your ingredients: trim your celeriac. Remove the skin and gnarly bits and roughly chop into medium-sized chunks. Rinse and roughly chop the celery hearts and set some of the leaves aside for garnish. Peel and roughly chop both the onion and green apple.

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in your Classic Dutch Oven and toss in the onion and celery. Stir and cook down for a few minutes, then add the celeriac and apple. Stir well and cover with 6 cups of water. Toss in the stock cube. Stir everything very well.

Bring the water up to a boil and then lower the heat to a bubbling simmer, cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until the celeriac feels very soft (you should be able to mash it with a wooden spoon).

Meanwhile, set the oven to 350º℉ (175℃) and place a sheet of Kana Parchment Paper on a baking tray. Place ½ cup of hazelnuts on to the sheet and toast in the oven for 10 minutes. Once the hazelnuts become fragrant remove them from the oven and leave them on the tray to cool.

Once the veggies in the pot are soft enough, blitz them until smooth using an immersion blender, or by transferring the soup in batches to a food processor or standing blender. Once blended, transfer the soup back into the pot. Add the remaining 2 tbsp of butter and stir. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Once the hazelnuts are cool, pick them up and rub them between your hands to shuck off the skins (it’s okay if some of the skin remains!) and roughly chop them on a cutting board.

To serve, top the soup with the hazelnuts, the celery leaves, and a drizzle of cream or extra virgin olive oil.