Saturday, September 1, 2007

Goats Cheese and Celery Soup, (Goats cheese optional)

This is my recipe for celery soup, it is wheat free. It is also dairy free but there is an option of adding goats cheese if you are not intolerent.

I made this in the pressure cooker, you can adapt it to be made in a saucepan but the time should be adjusted, or a microwave in a very large container so it doesn't bubble over.

One large onion chopped roughly
One head of Celery root and tips removed and discarded in the compost bin, wash sticks well then slice thinly
A handful of red lentils (probably about 50 grams, or 2 ounces)
Water
Salt to taste
Oil - I used sunflower oil
Rice flour to thicken - could be substituted for
Small soft goats cheese - optional.
I used organic ingredients throughout.

Put some oil in the base of the pan and heat gently, then add the onion and allow to cook for a few minutes.
Add the sliced celery including leaves and continue to sautee in the oil, stirring frequently.
Boil some water - I used filtered,
Add the lentils to the the pan and top up with the boiling water, about half way up the pressure cooker - approx 1 litre, or two pints.
Add some salt if required, not too much as this can be adjusted later. (I used Himalayan salt).
Put the pressure cooker lid on and turn up the heat, when steaming turn the heat down and cook for 15 minutes. If using a pan, bring to the boil then turn down to simmer, simmer until the lentils are soft.

Turn off the heat and let the pressure slowly go from the pressure cooker, put two tablespoons of rice flour in a jug or mug and mix in some water to make it into a paste, add some soup to the paste and stir then put the heat back on under the pan and add the mixture to the soup.

Stir a few times and bring it to the boil.

Now I love gadgets, and I would normally let the soup cool a little then ladle it into my food processor to whizz it round and make it smooth, but I remembered I had a liquidiser gadget attachment for my hand mixer, used once and put away somewhere so decided to try that.
It worked a treat and was a lot easier than transferring the soup into the processor then a jug then back to the pan and it saved on washing up.

Whatever you use to make the soup smooth (processor, gadget, sieve and spoon) once this stage is complete if you want to add the goats cheese you can, and stir it round well until it dissolves.

The goats cheese I buy is the soft cheese without a rind, it is fairly easy to get hold of, organic or otherwise.

Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Now it is ready to serve, with rice cakes if you like them!