“A delicious winter warming vegetable soup. No stock is required as the flavours will be strong enough.” To Serve 4 Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 50 minutes Ingredients 2 x heads of celery (roughly chopped) 2 x large potatoes (peeled and cut 2cm dice) 1 x medium onion (finely chopped) 1 x litre water 100g x unsalted butter 10g x fennel seeds 50g x walnuts (chopped) 50g x Crème Fraîche Salt and Pepper to taste
Method 1. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over a medium/high heat 2. Add the onions, celery and fennel seeds and cook for 6-8 minutes 3. Add the potato, cover with a lid and cook for a further 10 minutes 4. Remove the lid, add the water and bring to the boil 5. Simmer for 20 minutes (skim the surface of unwanted residue) 6. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes 7. Blend the soup with a hand blender until smooth 8. Season to taste 9. Serve in a bowl with chopped walnuts and Crème Fraîche as a garnish Recipe by Johnnie Mountain, TV chef and owner of the newly opened English Pig restaurant.