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Sacha Hirschfeld

Cream of Celery and Leek Soup

This Cream of Celery and Leek Soup is an ultimate cold weather must. It's inexpensive to make and highlights the underdog that is celery!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Soups
Cuisine: American
Calories: 495
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 cups leeks white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise and sliced into half moons
  • 4 cups celery sliced; reserve celery leaves for garnish
  • 2 tbsp Better Than Bouillon paste chicken or veg
  • 5 garlic cloves chopped
  • ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 bay leaves
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground pepper
  • 4 cups chicken stock best quality, ideally homemade
  • 1 ½ cups half + half
  • 2 tbsp fresh dill or 1 tsp dried dill
  • ¼ tsp celery seed
  • 1 lemon juiced

Equipment

  • 1 Dutch-oven or soup pot
  • 1 small pot to warm broth
  • 1 chefs knife
  • 1 cutting board
  • 1 wooden spoon
  • 1 medium bowl to make slurry
  • 1 whisk
  • 1 soup ladle

Method
 

  1. Melt butter/warm olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leeks, garlic, and a 5 finger pinch of salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Take care not to brown the leeks. If you see them starting to crisp up at the sides, lower the heat.
    In parallel, heat chicken stock in a small pot over medium heat. You'll need hot stock to make the slurry later on.
  2. Add celery and Better Than Bouillon paste; cook, stirring often, until the celery is tender, about 7 minutes.
  3. While the celery is cooking, let's make our slurry. Add flour to a medium-sized bowl. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of hot chicken stock, until totally combined and no lumps remain. Pour the slurry over the veggies and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly, to cook off the flour taste.
  4. Add bay leaves and chicken stock; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for another 20 minutes.
  5. Discard bay leaves. Stir in the half & half and return to a gentle simmer; cook for 5 minutes.
  6. Remove from heat. Stir in dill, celery seed, and lemon juice. Taste, adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper, as desired.
  7. Garnish with celery leaves and more dill. Serve hot!