Celeriac soup with hazelnuts and truffle oil recipe

This celeriac soup with hazelnuts and truffle oil recipe is a creamy dish complemented with crunchy sweet hazelnuts. It makes a lovely dinner party starter, and to serve more people simply double the quantity.

Ingredients (serves 4)

2tbsp olive oil
Knob of butter
3 echalion shallots, finely diced
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 celeriac, peeled and diced
1 medium potato, peeled and diced
1 bay leaf
1tbsp lemon thyme leaves
1litre vegetable stock
100g blanched hazelnuts, toasted
2tbsp crème fraîche
Half a lemon
Truffle oil, for drizzling

Method

Heat the oil and butter in a medium saucepan. Cook the shallots and celery for four minutes until beginning to soften. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the celeriac, potato, bay leaf and thyme and cook for a minute. Pour over the stock, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.

Remove the pan from the heat and take out the bay leaf. Add about three quarters of the hazelnuts, then chop the remaining nuts and set aside. Blend the soup with a stick blender until smooth, stir in the crème fraîche and blend again.

To toast the remaining chopped hazelnuts, preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Spread over a baking tray and place in the oven for about five minutes – until golden.

Add a squeeze of lemon to the soup, then ladle into bowls. Serve scattered with the hazelnuts and drizzled with the truffle oil.

Recipe courtesy of Waitrose