Recipe: Celery soup with pear and blue cheese

Whenever you find yourself buying a whole bunch of celery just to use a stick or two, make soup. This celery soup with pear and blue cheese uses flavours proven to go well together in a new delicious format.

This recipe is gluten-free and can be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock and omitting the bacon. You can make it vegan by using vegetable stock and plant-based cheese, in addition to omitting the bacon.

If you don’t like blue cheese, you can use other cheese such as cottage, ricotta or feta if you like mild flavours, or cheddar, gouda or Manchego for a more complex taste profile. If you cheese is semi-hard or hard, grate it before blending it.

If you are eating this soup as a main meal, I recommend adding more protein-rich foods such as a couple of boiled eggs, some leftover chicken and/or a couple of slices of high protein toast.

Celery soup with pear and blue cheese

This celery soup with pear and blue cheese uses flavours proven to go well together in a new delicious format.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Course light meal, Lunch, Main Course, Soup

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 shallot
• 1 small bunch celery about 4.5 cups once trimmed and chopped
• 1 medium ripe pear
• 1.5 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 4 tbsp blue cheese I used Danish
• 2 small rashers of bacon optional
• 2 tbsp hazelnuts

Instructions

 

• Peel and slice the shallot. Wash, trim and roughly chop the celery. Quarter, core and roughly chop the pear.
• If your hazelnuts are not roasted, place them in a dry pan and heat gently until toasted. This will only take a few minutes and you need to be constantly watching them because they burn easily. Once ready, let them cool and chop them roughly.
• If using bacon: dice it and place on a baking tray lined with foil or baking paper and cook in a moderate-high oven (180-200°C) until browned and crispy. You can also do this step in a dry pan. Once done, fish it out with a slotted spoon and drain on a plate lined with paper towel.
• Heat a pot at medium heat. Add oil and shallot, cook until soft and starting to brown (about 5 minutes), stirring often.
• Add celery, cook for another 5 minutes, stirring often.
• Add pear, cook for another 5 minutes, stirring often.
• Add stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook for another 10 minutes.
• Blend soup with a stick blender or using a regular blender or food processor.
• Add 3 tbsp of blue cheese and blend once more until smooth.
• Serve soup garnished with the rest of the blue cheese crumbled, crispy bacon and hazelnuts.

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