I’m always making recipes that use 1 or 2 stalks of celery and am left with about 10 stalks that go weird and rubbery in about 7 seconds.
With that in mind, I set about coming up with a recipe that could use all the left overs I have when making stuff like Bolognese sauce. So when I do make this soup, I nearly always halve the recipe here and make only one or two serves. But I have done this to create 4 serves, for ease of family cooking.
As well as celery, I have gone an Asian route with chilli, ginger, onions, coconut milk and finished with fresh lime juice that cuts RIGHT through to liven everything up. I also use a potato to thicken it, every bit as important as the celery.
It is a great soup but in my opinion, it needs something else to make it feel more like a complete meal, hence the addition of big thick chunks of ciabatta croutons. These are spectacular and have helped the soup become a regular on my weekly menu.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon, olive oil
- 1 HUGE bunch of celery or 2 small bunches, diced
- 1 potato, peeled and diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 thumbsized piece of ginger, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 – 2 red chillies, deseeded (if you have to) and chopped
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 small bunch parsley
- ¼ teaspoon celery salt
- Salt and pepper
- 1 lime quartered
- 1 ciabatta loaf
- Olive oil
Cook it:
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius
- Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan over a medium high heat
- Add the onions, celery and potato. Fry for about 6 – 8 minutes
- Add the ginger, garlic and chilli. Fry for a further 2 minutes
- Add the celery salt and stir
- Add the stock and turn the heat to high. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring regularly
- Tear the ciabatta crudely (or is that croudly – hahahahahah, ahahaha, ahem) Place in a baking tray, pour olive oil over and toss. Chuck the tray in the oven
- Put the kettle on, you might need a cup or so of water later
- Add the coconut milk to the saucepan and reduce the heat to low, simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring regularly
- Add the parsley and blend for a minute or two. Check the consistency, if too thick, add some water from the kettle and blend
- Add some pepper and if it needs it, some salt (but with the celery salt, it shouldn’t). Check the seasoning to make sure everything is balanced perfectly
- Divide into 4 bowls and serve with crunchy croutons and a lime quarter
- Get it into ya!
Recommended Tunes:
Jimi Hendrix “Are You Experienced”
I don’t know why I started listening to Jimi again this week. Hell, I don’t need a reason, it is the Lord God Jimi Hendrix! Every time I listen to a Jimi album, I convince myself that the one I am listening to is the best album ever. The issue is, any of them could be, he is a MASTER. He is the reason I took up guitar, to me he is God!
Listen for the intro to Purple Haze alone. TRY and imagine what it would have been like hearing that in 66/67 for the first time ever. Mind blowing.
Listen – but do yourself a favour and buy it on vinyl!!
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