This recipe happens to be two of my favorite things combined: 1) Soup and 2) Celery. Actually, celery AND celery root. I’ve been experimenting with celery root a lot lately and decided to try it in a pretty classic preparation for once. Seriously, I’m not one to toot my own horn, but this soup turned out so yummy. I mean it.

You will need:

1 medium sized leek (white and light green parts only; chopped)

2 medium sized onions (or 1 large; chopped)

1 jalapeño (half of the seeds removed and chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (chopped)

1.5-2 lbs of celery root (I had 1.73 lbs)

4 ribs of celery (divided; chopped)

1 Tbs white wine vinegar

1 32 oz container chicken stock

1 cup whole milk

1 1/2 cups chopped arugula

olive oil

salt

pepper

First chop your veggies, starting with your leeks. Cut them lengthwise and rinse any excess dirt out before slicing.

Continue with your onions, 2 of the celery ribs, jalapeño, and garlic.

Heat a stockpot over medium heat and coat with olive oil. Toss in your leeks, onions, 2 of the celery ribs, jalapeño, and garlic. Add salt and pepper. Sauté for about 5 minutes while you prepare your celery root.

Start by cutting off the top. Turn the celery root cut side down and begin slicing the skin off. Continue rotating until you’ve removed all the skin.

Chop your celery root into 1/2 inch sized cubes and add to your stock pot. This is when I would typically add about a cup of white wine to something like this, but I didn’t have any on hand… I added 1 Tbs white wine vinegar instead! Do either (the vinegar turned out great in it, I will say though). Pour in your chicken stock, cover, and let simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until veggies are fork tender.

While your veggies simmer, chop your other two celery ribs and sauté in a little olive oil over medium heat until tender but still have some texture. Remove from heat. (reserve for after you blend the soup)

Once your soup veggies have finished cooking, turn the heat off. Now is the time to blend. Either working in batches with a blender OR all at once with an emersion blender, blend your soup until smooth. I happen to have an emersion blender thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law, Lizzy.

Once you’ve reached a smooth consistency add the milk and blend briefly…just to incorporate the milk.

Add sautéed celery to your soup and stir. Ladle soup into bowls and top with a little chopped arugula and a light drizzle of olive oil *optional. Enjoy!