POTATO SOUP WITH CELERY RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil over medium-low heat, add the onion, leek, and celery, and cook gently, stirring often, for about 10 minutes, until very tender. Add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt after the first 5 minutes. Make sure that the vegetables do not color.
• Add the potatoes, garlic, and bouquet garni. Stir together and add the water or stock. Bring to a simmer, add salt to taste, cover and simmer 30 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables are very tender and the broth fragrant. Remove from the heat.
• Remove the bouquet garni from the soup. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup (or you can put it through the fine blade of a food mill or use a regular blender, working in batches and placing a kitchen towel over the top to avoid splashing). Then strain through a medium strainer (this step is important; otherwise the soup will be stringy), using a pestle or the bottom of a ladle to push the soup through. Make sure to scrape the outside of the strainer so that all of the puree goes back into the soup. Return to the pot, stir with a whisk to even out the texture, heat through and season well with salt and pepper.
• Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each bowl with a few thin slices of celery and about 1/4 teaspoon walnut oil. Sprinkle with minced chives or chervil if you wish, and serve.

Steps:

• 1. Trim, peel and roughly slice the carrots and celery. Peel and roughly chop the onions. Peel and finely slice the garlic.
  2. Cut the ends off the leeks, quarter them lengthways, wash them under running water and cut them into 1cm slices.
  3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan on a high heat, add all the chopped and sliced ingredients and cook with the lid ajar for 10 minutes, or until softened, stirring regularly.
  4. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into 1cm cubes.
  5. Put the stock cubes into a jug or pan, pour in 1.8 litres of boiling water and stir to dissolve, then pour into the veg pan.
  6. Add the potatoes. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on, then remove from the heat.
  7. Season to taste with sea salt and black pepper, then either serve like this or pulse until smooth using a stick blender or liquidizer.