My biggest fear of this blog is that it is just going to become a document of Ina Garten’s greatest hits. But I can’t withhold the great food this woman has graced us with. Yes the recipe I am sharing is another Barefoot Contessa because it is damn good. If anything that is what I am here for. To try recipes and provide you with the foolproof ones. I have tried many recipes from Pinterest and blogs and I wonder, do you really eat this…? and enjoy it…? or are you just trying to post something…? Here I am trying to post stuff you would want to eat and more importantly what I want to eat. This soup is really neat because it is so simple, so few ingredients and if you don’t have all the stuff it is easy to improvise. I am a big soup lover. Soup is a hug for the soul. It is always comforting, especially the past couple days where it hasn’t gotten above 10 degrees outside. Plus this soup freezes well which is a bachelors dream! (Cooking for one is tough and not having a car to get groceries is harder so the freezer is essentially my best friend.) The recipe I am giving you is Ina’s with the variations I made in the notes. I ate it for the past five days and regret nothing.
Cauliflower & Celery Root Soup
Adapted from: Ina Garten, Make it Ahead
Serves 5 to 6
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup good olive oil
- 2 cups chopped yellow onion (2 onions)
- 2 cups celery root diced
- 2 cups fennel diced (core and stalks removed)
- 2 pounds cauliflower cut into florets (about medium sized head)
- 2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable)
- 2 tablespoon cream (optional)
- Salt and pepper
- herb for serving (chives, parsley, or fennel top works great to give it some freshness)
Instructions:
Notes:
- For my soup I did not have enough cauliflower so I added in some carrots and thought it still tasted great, you can add more or less veggies that you like, that is where this recipe is really flexible. It is kind of like the “clean out the fridge soup”
- I do not use chicken broth but thought vegetable did a great job
- I did not have cream, it was creamy enough as is but if you want the extra velvety-ness and richness, cream it up!
- I don’t get the point of olive oil on top but it looks cool
- I did not have chives on hand but had parsley and honestly any herb will top nice on this soup, Ina also put croutons on top. I ate mine with a nice slice of toasted sourdough.
- The soup will be good for a week in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer
Also, the tops of fennel make a great centerpiece to liven up your kitchen, and even to sprinkle on top on the dish!
