A perfect winter warmer
Winter might be on its way, what with milder weather already here but chilly evenings definitely call for a hearty and delicious soup. This time though I had a few red peppers at home and I knew I wanted to smoke them and add them either into a soup or stew instead of my regular dips. So this humble, often ignored root vegetable found its way into my kitchen. Though I have cooked with celeriac in the past, this particular recipe has turned out so well I will be making it over and over again.
This soup is a fusion recipe where I use some common methods used in Indian recipes. I choose celeriac because I often walk past in when am shopping for vegetables at our local supermarket or the farmers market but never really bring it home.
Definitely one to save, why not bookmark or print and save this easy to recreate the recipe and you add something new to your weeknight meal plan?
Flavour Notes
The smoked red pepper and the mild red chilli really packs a punch while the herbs work hard in the background to add delicate undertones which hold their own even with the smoky pepper and healing garlic.
This soup is a brilliant winter warmer and is packed with flavour and healing properties thanks to the turmeric
Suitable for both vegans and vegetarians this soup is really versatile and a meal in itself.
Creamy Celeriac and Smoked Red Pepper Soup
Equipment
- Oven
- Any Blender, I use my Froothie Optimum Blender
Ingredients
- 1 Medium sized Celeriac
- 1 Medium Red Onion
- 1 Long sweet Red Pepper
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1/2 Mild Red Chilli
- 1 Sprig of Rosemary
- 1 Sprig of Thyme
- 2 Sage leaves
- 1/2 tsp Cumin
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 small stick of Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- Mixed Seeds for Garnish
- 2 tsp Olive Oil
- Salt as per taste
- Freshly CrackedBlack Pepper
Instructions
- Wash theceleriac thoroughly, using a sharp knife carefully remove the hard-outer skinand chop into cubes
- Pre-heatoven to 190 °C
- Roughly chop the red onion and red chilli
- Line abaking tray with foil and place the celeriac chunks, Scatter the thyme androsemary and drizzle some olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. Roast in thepre-hea ted oven for around 40 minutes
- In the last 20 minutes ofthe roasting process, add the chopped red onion, garlic and chilli. If you donot have an oven, simply roast the chopped red onion and garlic in a heavybottomed pan over a medium flame with some olive oil, add the herbs and the cubedceleriac, sauté,add minimal water and cook with a lid on, until the celeriacis soft.
- While the celeriac cooksin the oven, wash and pat dry the red pepper. Using tongs place on an openflame, turning frequently to char the outside skin. This will impart a deepsmoky flavour to the sweet red pepper. (I love doing this over charcoal on aBBQ during summer!)
- Let the red pepper cool, then use the back of a spoon to gently peel off the charred skin
- Once theceleriac is cooked, set aside and allow to cool enough to add in the blender
- Blend the roasted celeriac,red onion, garlic and the smoked red pepper. Remove the rosemary and thymebefore adding into the blender. Add just enough water to form a thick grainy mixture.I don’t like to blend too fine, this way the soup has a nice thick texture
- Heat the remaining Oliveoil In a heavy bottomed pot, sautee the bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Thensputter some cumin and then pour the vegetable mixture from the blender. Addthe red chilli powder and turmeric powder and mix well. Simmer on a low flamefor a few minutes with lid on
- Seasonwith salt, freshly cracked black pepper
- Garnish withthe mixed seeds and one sage leaf per bowl. I like to sautee the sage leaf in adrop of olive oil before garnishing – it renders the sage leaf crisp and allits fabulous flavours release into the little oil
- Serve hotwith crusty bread slathered with lashings of butter or vegan butter
Definitely one of the many recipes that I will be making as part of my batch cooking, this soup makes a tasty lunch box treat. You can get really creative with toppings and to add some more oomph why not try drizzled with some coconut cream on top(vegan option) or if you a dollop of thick set creamy yoghurt.
While you are here, browse through my other Soup Recipes
- Clear Vegetable soup – Fusion recipe with an Indian twist
- Red Lentil Soup
- Tomato and Lentil soupy broth
- Butternut Squash and lentil soup
- Chinese chicken noodle soup
- BBQ Pulled Pork and aromatic noodle soup
I love reading recipes created by my fellow bloggers, so here are some easy to create recipes, do check them out:
- Cauliflower and sweet potato soup by Mina Joshi of Give me some spice
- Chickpea and Okra provision soup by Mirelle of Global Kitchen Travels
- Middle eastern lentil soup by Sandhya of My cooking journey
- Minestrone Soup by Jyoti of Living smart and healthy
- Vegan Greek chickpea soup by Priya of I camp in my kitchen
- Vegan butternut squash and tomato soup by Nayna of Simply sensational food
- Easy broccoli soup by Heidi of Kitchen talks and travels
- Thukpa / Veg noodle soup by Renu of Cook with Renu
- Carrot soup by Mayuri of Mayuri’s Jikoni
- Thenthuk/ Hand-pulled noodle soup by Shobha of Shobha’s food mazaa
- Vegan black bean soup by Vandana of Green bowl to soul
