You may be familiar with an Italian cookie called brutti ma buoni or “ugly but good.” I wouldn’t go as far as to call celery root ugly but it is daunting to look at if you’ve never dealt with one.The best way to peel them is with a paring knife. Work slowly and carefully and you’ll be done before you know it. With celery root and all large, hard vegetables, shave a little of the root off the side that’s already nearly flat to keep it from slipping as you cut it up.
There are two directions you can take with this soup: Puree the celery root and chard all together and end up with a smooth, light green soup or puree the celery root mixture and then stir in the chard leaves and let them cook a bit in the soup. Either way, it comes up a winner. It makes quite a bit- good for the freezer. If you have croutons or TBN on hand, they are good here. Also and oddly, like split pea soup, this benefits from a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese.
Makes 10 cups, 5 main course servings
2 pounds Swiss chard- green is fine, but red chard adds a nice color to the soup
2 medium (about 1 ½ pounds) celery root
3 tablespoons butter
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 to 3 large garlic cloves, chopped fine
Salt and freshly ground pepper
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream or half and half
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼ cup finely chopped Italian parsley
Trim off any wilted or brown parts of the chard leaves and the stem ends. Wash the chard in a clean sink full of water. Swish it around a bit and then let it sit so the grit settles to the bottom of the sink. Lift out the chard to a colander and let it drain.
Separate the stems from the leaves. Cut the stalks into 2-inch lengths. Roll up the leaves and cut them into ½ inch or so strips. Set the leaves and stems aside separately. Peel the celery root and cut it into 1-inch or so cubes. Put the celery root in a bowl and pour in enough cool water to cover so it doesn’t turn brown.
Melt the butter in a large heavy pot over low heat. Stir in the onion, garlic, and chard stems. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir every once in a while. The vegetables should be stewing in a mixture of their juices and the butter.
Stir in the broth, season with salt and pepper, then add the celery root. Bring to a boil over high heat, then adjust the heat so the liquid is simmering. Cook uncovered until the celery root is tender, about 30 minutes.
When the celery root is tender, it’s decision time: If you want a very smooth soup, stir in the chard leaves now and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. If you want to leave the strips of chard leaves whole, puree the soup now. In either case, puree the soup in batches in a food processor or blender. Cool the soup to room temperature before using the blender or the hot soup will blow the top right off the blender, not a pretty sight. Return the soup to the pot. If you decided to go with the whole chard strips, stir them in now. Stir in the cream and check to see if the soup needs more salt and pepper. Simmer five minutes.
Add the lemon juice. Serve with additional lemon wedges and grated Parmesan if you like and croutons (or TBN if you happen to have some on hand).