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celeriac caramelised shallot and brown butter soup
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VEGETARIAN

Celeriac, Caramelised Shallot and Brown Butter Soup

By Stephen La Rosa

A silky celeriac soup finished with brown butter, topped with sauteed celeriac, a crunchy fried celeriac crumble, and pomegranate for sweetness and crunch. Three preparations of one vegetable, each doing different work on the plate.

Celeriac, Caramelised Shallot and Brown Butter Soup
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Prep 40 minutes
Cook 50 minutes
Total 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 4
Difficulty
Ingredients

For the Soup

  • 1 large celeriac about 1kg, peeled
  • 6 shallots about 350g, peeled
  • 4 cloves garlic 30g, thinly sliced
  • 3 stalks celery 150g, sliced
  • 4 sprigs thyme
  • 200 g brown butter

For the Celeriac Crumble

  • 200 g celeriac peeled
  • 1 L neutral oil
  • salt to taste

For the Sauteed Celeriac

  • 400 g celeriac peeled
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • 1 clove garlic
  • olive oil and salt to taste

To Finish

  • pomegranate seeds
  • celery, parsley and tarragon leaves picked
Instructions

For the Soup

  • Cut the knobbly root end off the celeriac and slice a flat edge on the opposite side. Lay it flat and peel around the outside with a knife (a peeler often struggles with the thick skin). Cut into quarters, then into thin slices.
  • Heat some olive oil or brown butter in a pot large enough to hold 4 litres. Add the sliced shallots and thyme (tie the thyme with string for easy removal later), season with a pinch of salt, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Once the shallots turn golden, add the sliced garlic and celery. Cook 3 minutes more, stirring, to take the raw edge off the garlic.
  • Add the sliced celeriac and stir to coat with the other vegetables. Season liberally with salt. Raise the heat to high and add 1.5 litres of water, chicken or vegetable stock (water gives a cleaner flavour, chicken stock gives more richness).
  • Bring to a boil, cover, and cook 10 minutes. Remove the lid, stir, and continue cooking 15 minutes more, until the celeriac crushes easily with the back of a spoon.
  • Blend the pot's contents (with an immersion blender, or in batches in a stand blender) with the brown butter and a squeeze of lemon juice until silky smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt and consistency with more stock or water. For the most luxurious texture, pass the finished soup through a fine mesh strainer.

For the Sauteed Celeriac

  • Cut the celeriac into 1cm cubes. Saute quickly over medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of brown butter or olive oil, the thyme, and a pinch of salt, stirring constantly until nicely browned. Drain on paper towel. (Alternatively, cut into slightly larger cubes, season with oil and salt, and roast at 180°C for 20 minutes until browned through.)

For the Celeriac Crumble

  • Roughly chop the celeriac and blend with 1 litre of water and 20g of salt on medium-low until it resembles coarse pebbles and sand.
  • Strain through a sieve and rinse to remove excess starch.
  • Wring out as much moisture as possible using a kitchen towel.
  • Heat 1 litre of oil in a pot that holds at least 2 litres. Add half the celeriac and bring the temperature up to 110°C over high heat, stirring occasionally and monitoring closely.
  • Hold at 110°C to drive off moisture. Once the bubbling slows, the celeriac will start to brown. Once browned, drain on paper towel and season with salt.
  • Once cooled, store in an airtight container for up to 2 days (or up to 7 with a silica gel packet).

To Serve

  • Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the sauteed celeriac, celeriac crumble, pomegranate seeds and picked herbs.
Equipment
  • Chef's Knife
  • Chopping board
  • Pot
  • Blender
  • Sieve
Recipe Notes
The celeriac crumble technique (blend, rinse, dehydrate in hot oil) works with other starchy root vegetables too, potato and Jerusalem artichoke both take to it well. Pomegranate brings sweetness and crunch here because it happened to be in season, poached apple or pear would work just as well in colder or warmer months. The soup, crumble and sauteed celeriac can all be made ahead separately and assembled just before serving.
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From the Chef

Celeriac is sweet and mild enough to eat raw, and even better once it’s cooked down and pureed with plenty of brown butter, which is what gives this soup its comforting, almost nutty depth. The crumble is the extra step worth knowing even beyond this recipe: blend, rinse out the starch, then slowly dehydrate in hot oil until it browns. It’s a technique that works on other root vegetables too, potato and Jerusalem artichoke both take to it well. Pomegranate is doing double duty here, sweetness and a crunchy, acidic counterpoint to all that richness. Swap in roast or poached pear if pomegranate isn’t in season where you are.

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