Celery Root and Caramelized Pear Soup

Who would think a vegetable as ugly as celery root could be transformed into something as beautiful as this bowl of soup? The first time I tasted celery root or celeriac was in Paris many years ago. The dish was celeri remalade, basically matchsticks of celery root tossed with flavored mayonnaise. I found celeriac's flavor combination of celery and parsley really tasty . The other night I was enjoying the soup with friends and I learned that my star vegetable, celeriac was actually mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, now I know Ive convinced you to get passed its rough exterior.

• 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter
• 1 cup of sliced onion
• 1/4 cup of sliced celery
• 1/4 cup of thinly sliced leek, white part only, reserve green section for bouquet garni
• 2 garlic cloves finely diced
• 2 1/2 cups chopped celery root(from about 3 small peeled celery roots)
• 1 small peeled, chopped potato
• 3 bosc pears, peeled cored and cut into medium dice . about 1 cup, don't throw out skins
• 5 cups of chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves, 5 sprigs parsley and 2 springs thyme wrapped with a strip of the leek top and tied with kitchen string
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large pot. Add the celery, onions and leeks, saute about 7 minutes till softened. Add the garlic. Add the celery root, potato, pear skins, chicken stock and bouquet garni. Bring the liquid to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, stir, reduce heat and cover. Cook at a simmer till all the vegetables are tender, this took about 35 minutes. Now let the soup cool down a bit . Place the soup in a blender or food processor. (Put about a 1/3 of the soup in the processor at a time...working slowly). It was a bit too thick, so I added another cup of chicken broth.Season with salt and pepper and cover. Now on to the caramelized pear topping. In a saute pan warm honey. Wait for honey to bubble and turn brown, this took about 4 minutes. Now toss in the rosemary sprig and diced pears. I added a pinch of sugar as my pears were not quite ripe. Toss the pears around until they are soft and glazed. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat.When serving place about 1 cup of soup in a bowl, a spoonful of the pear goes right in the center. Drizzle the pears lightly with the balsamic sauce from the bottom of the saute pan. Serve

Note:This is an Alfred Portale recipe. I have tweaked it a bit. He suggests straining the soup through a fine mesh strainer, sorry I'm too lazy for that step. He also recommends adding 2 tablespoons of butter after the soup has been pureed for added richness. Sorry I'm too fat for that step. I thought the soup was delicious without the added butter. If you add the butter, let me know if it made a big difference.

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