This Soup Saves Lives
Recipe
The Bacon and Celery Root Soup Everybody Needs to Know About
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 45 min
December 01, 2017 • By Seamus Mullen
Well, maybe not literally. But the other night when I was famished and had very little in my fridge, I cobbled this together and it was literally one of the most delicious things I’ve had in a while. Soup truly is one of the oldest medicines and as we head into the colder months, I tend to always have some leftover soup in the fridge that I can heat up at a moments notice.
A good soup doesn’t have to take hours to make, certainly not with a few shortcuts. As I’ve been recovering from surgery on both of my shoulders my arms have been pretty much out of commission so I’ve had to make use of all my tools to be able to cook myself nourishing food while completely compromised.
Give this soup a shot, I confess I’m writing the recipe from memory so the proportions might not be exact, but cooking is more craft than science and if you rely too heavily on the recipe, you’ll never learn to improvise and find your own creative voice in the kitchen! (Yeah, that’s a complete cop-out for not recipe testing. Guilty!)
Ingredients
2 large celery roots, peeled (roughly softball size)
1 parsnip
1 leek
2 cloves of garlic
1 slice of thick cut, pastured bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp champagne or white wine vinegar
2 cups of macadamia milk (or any milk you prefer)
5 cups of highest quality stock/broth made from pastured bones (chicken, beef, vegetable, camel, duck - use whatever you've got)
salt & pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste
sumac powder to taste
Method
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the bacon. Sweat for 3 minutes or so then add the parsnip, celery root and leeks and continue to sweat for another 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, sweat for another minute.
- Deglaze with vinegar, wait 30 seconds and add the broth/stock. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes.
- Ladel the vegetables into a blender and then add the liquid and puree until smooth. With the blender running on the lowest speed add in the macadamia/almond/camel/donkey/cow’s milk and puree until silky. Whilst this is working give the pot a quick rinse.
- Return the soup to the pot and season with salt, pepper and cayenne and add any additional vinegar should you want a little more acidity.
- Serve straight away or set aside in the fridge and save it for a moment when you are pressed for time.
- You can serve it with some crispy cubes of diced bacon as I have and a few sprinkles of sumac. Add your favorite greenery for the scenery should you desire. Presto!
