There have been quite a few food blogger and Instagrammer friends who have challenged me to try celeriac cooked – to the point where it’s become slightly irritating. I just don’t like celeriac. My mother used to make a grated raw salad and I couldn’t even handle the smell.
Stefan from Stefan Gourmet was shaming me the other day (kidding) for not yet trying cooked celeriac. He’d just posted a dish with celeriac purée, and tried to convince me that it was a completely different flavor, and how horrible it would be for me to not experience this food out of stubbornness. Which is true, but I’m pretty proud that there’s only one food out there that I don’t like, when most people have lists in the hundreds. (Husband.) Oh, there’s also uni. I always forget that one. Don’t like it.
During the pandemic in the early part of 2021, I discovered a second season of Amy Schumer Loves to Cook, a show I’d mentioned when I made Tinto de Verano, which is excellent. I’m not a huge fan of cooking shows; I’d rather do something more productive with my time. However, this show, filmed by their nanny while the family was holed up in a cabin during the 2020 pandemic, is Amy Schumer and her actual chef husband, Chris Fischer. The whole premise is Chef Fischer teaching Amy how to cook. I LOL’d throughout the episodes. Her husband is straight-faced yet hysterical, and they make a truly enjoyable pair.
In the first season of Amy Schumer Loves to Cook, Chris used a lot of fennel, and it became a running joke. In the second season, celeriac has stepped up to first position. Yuck for me… until… he made a soup with it! Oddly enough, the soup is not only made with celeriac, but also fennel, which I prefer cooked over raw.
The soup is puréed with yogurt and served cold, and it was too intriguing for me to ignore. Maybe people will stop bugging me about celeriac now! I liked this soup!
Celeriac and Fennel Yogurt Soup
Printable recipe below
2 heads celeriac
2 bulbs fennel
1 cup whole fat Greek yogurt
1 cup loosely packed parsley leaves
Salt
White pepper
Spicy croutons, optional
A few fennel fronds, optional
Trim the peel of the celeriac and chop into fairly uniform pieces. Clean and trim the fennel bulbs and chop in similar-sized pieces.
Bring a large pot of water to a full boil on the stove over high heat and add the celeriac and fennel.
When the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes, remove them with a slotted spoon to a blender jar and let cool; save the water.
Purée the vegetables until smooth adding the water as needed. Don’t make it too thin because yogurt will be added.
Add yogurt, parsley, salt and white pepper, and blend until smooth.
Taste for seasoning. I thought the soup rather bland, so I added 2 heaping tablespoons of chicken broth powder to the mixture.
Purée, then chill fully.
Serve cold.
You could add a drizzle of yogurt on the top, but I’m not good at drizzles!
If desired, add a few croutons and some cayenne pepper flakes.
Celeriac and Fennel Yogurt Soup
2 heads celeriac
2 bulbs fresh fennel
Salt
Pepper
Whole fat Greek yogurt
1 cup parsley leaves
Trim the peel of the celeriac and chop into fairly uniform pieces. The smell is already bothering me.
Clean and trim the fennel bulbs and chop in similar-sized pieces.
Bring a large pot of water to a full boil on the stove over high heat and add the celeriac and fennel.
When the vegetables are tender, about so many minutes, remove them with a slotted spoon to a blender jar and let cool.
Add yogurt, salt, pepper, and parsley and blend until smooth.
Let chill fully and serve cold.