Curried celeriac soup with naan bread croutons
A low-maintenance soup with crispy, chewy naan bread croutons
This is going to sound ridiculous, but I’ve discovered croutons. Until recently, I thought croutons were pretty much limited to those dry, tiny ones you get in Pizza Hut’s salad bar, or in packets in the shops. Now, I know you can make croutons out of anything bread-adjacent. Crumpets, bagels, pittas, ciabatta, baguettes. Anything can be a crouton. This week, I bring you naan bread croutons. They’re crispy, salty and chewy and they top this beautifully warming celeriac soup.
With a drizzle of easy lemon yoghurt and some fresh and crunchy garnishes for texture, it’s quite possibly one of the nicest soups I’ve ever made. As always, there’s the main recipe that you can use to feed yourself for the week with leftovers, and there are also a couple of ways to make this recipe into a proper meal with something about it for friends.
Curried celeriac soup with naan bread croutons
Serves four (or one with three leftover portions)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion
2 sticks of celery
1 celeriac (about 800g)
2 cloves of garlic
thumb-sized piece of ginger
1 tbsp hot curry powder
750ml vegetable stock
2 naan breads
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
1 lemon
coriander, to garnish
nigella seeds, to garnish
Place a large saucepan on a medium heat and pour in 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil. Preheat the oven to 200C. While the pan and the oven heat up, finely chop your onion and celery sticks (or use a food processor for speed). Once the oil is hot, add your onion and celery and sweat for 10 minutes.
While your onion and celery are sweating, peel and chop your celeriac into 2-3cm chunks and set aside. Finely chop the garlic and peel and finely chop the ginger then add to the pan with the curry powder. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the celeriac and stir to coat.
Pour in the stock and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Using scissors, cut up your naan bread into bite-sized pieces. Place onto a medium-sized baking tray and drizzle over the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. Toss the naan bread pieces so they’re coated in the oil, then season with salt, pepper and the 1/2 teaspoon of chilli flakes. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
Once your celeriac is soft (test using a fork), use a blender to blend the soup until smooth. Season with salt, pepper and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Set aside to cool slightly.
In a small bowl, mix together the yoghurt and juice of 1/2 a lemon.
Serve your soup into bowls, top with the crispy naan bread croutons and a drizzle of the lemony yoghurt. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and nigella seeds.
Tips
If you’re using this recipe to meal prep, you can keep the soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. Keep the croutons in an airtight container in the cupboard.
Not a celeriac fan? You can also use butternut squash, sweet potato or parsnip in this recipe and it’ll still be delicious.
Now, I’ll admit it, I probably won’t be making this soup for a big fancy weekend dinner with friends. However, it’s a great little weekend lunch or weeknight dinner, and if you’re having people over there are still some nice things you could add to make it even better.
Lemon, ginger and thyme tea
If you’re making this soup as a way to warm up a gang of cold and hungry people then the perfect add-on would be a few steaming mugs of lemon, ginger and thyme tea. It’s the most low-effort hot drink. All you need to do is squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lemon to everyone’s mug, throw in some slices of fresh ginger and a few sprigs of fresh thyme. Top the whole thing with boiling water and let steep for 10 minutes before drinking.
Something sweet
A leisurely weekend lunch is made even better by the addition of something sweet, and these brownies are 100% failsafe and can be made and cut into in around an hour. They’re my go-to every time I want to bake something delicious and treat-worthy but easy. If you wanted to add a little something extra, try swirling a tablespoon or two of tahini into the top.