-
1
First, peel and chop the celery root. Slice off the top and bottom and then slice around all sides to remove the peel. You should have a cylinder of clean celery root. Chop it into 1-inch cubes. My 4 pounds of celery root turned into about 7 cups when chopped.
-
2
Melt the butter and olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Once hot, add leeks and saute for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Do not let the leeks brown at all; turn down the heat if they start to. Add the garlic cloves and a pinch of salt and continuing sauteing until both the leeks and garlic are soft and translucent, another few minutes.
-
3
Add the celery root, vegetable stock, and water. Cover the pot, bring the soup to a boil, and then reduce heat to a strong simmer. Simmer until the celery root is tender. A fork should slide easily into the center of a cube when pierced. This will depend on the size of your cubes, but took me about 25 minutes.
-
4
Once celery root is tender, add the pepper and chili powder. Puree using an immersion blender (or in small batches in a regular blender-if you do this make sure to leave plenty of open space in the blender and crack the lid a bit to allow steam to escape) until the soup is smooth with no remaining chunks. Add more salt as desired.
-
5
Serve hot with a drizzle of truffle or olive oil and a side of rustic bread. Enjoy!
-
6
Adapted from David Lebovitz.
