Celery-Celeriac Soup with Roquefort Croutons Recipe

This soup is delicious, even if you don't like celery, you should give this a try.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup thinly sliced leek (about 1 large)
  • 1/2 cup chopped shallots
  • 4 cups chopped peeled celeriac (celery root; about 2 medium)
  • 1 1/2 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 (14-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 thyme sprigs
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 cups thinly sliced celery
  • 1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup half-and-half
  • 8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices French bread baguette
  • Cooking spray
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Roquefort cheese

Directions

To prepare soup, melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leek and shallots; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in celeriac and next 5 ingredients (through bay leaves); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in celery, milk, salt, and pepper; simmer 10 minutes (do not boil). Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves and thyme. Place half of celery mixture in a blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed celery mixture into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining celery mixture. Stir in half-and-half.

Preheat broiler.

To prepare croutons, arrange bread in a single layer on a baking sheet; coat with cooking spray. Broil 1 minute or until golden. Turn bread over; sprinkle each bread slice with 1 tablespoon cheese. Broil 1 minute or until cheese melts; cool 1 minute on baking sheet. Place bread on a cutting board; cut each bread slice into 6 wedges to form croutons. Ladle about 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with 6 croutons. Serve immediately.