Celeriac, garlic and rice soup with charred lemon salsa
INTRODUCTION
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Celeriac, garlic and rice soup with charred lemon salsa
Yotam uses garlic three ways here: roasted to add sweetness, fried for crunch and garlic oil to drizzle on top. Feel free to double or even triple the number of garlic heads you roast – the cloves can be kept in oil in a sealed jar and used in spreads, dressings or even folded into mashed potato. This soup thickens as it sits, so add more liquid to get it to a consistency you like.
Prep 25 min
Cook 1 hr 20 min
Serves 4
3 whole heads garlic, top trimmed to expose the cloves, plus 6 extra cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
105ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Salt and black pepper
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium celeriac (700g), peeled and cut into 1½cm cubes
3 cinnamon sticks
1½ tsp dried oregano
80g short-grain rice
500ml vegetable stock
2 lemons – 1 cut into 6 ¼cm-thick rounds, the other juiced, to get 1½ tbsp
10g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
3 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/465F/ gas 9. Drizzle the garlic heads with a little oil, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, then wrap them individually and tightly in foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly coloured on top and softened. Once cool enough to handle, use a small, sharp knife to separate the cloves, discard the skins and set aside.
Meanwhile, put two tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion, celeriac and cinnamon, and cook, stirring occasionally, for eight minutes, until everything is softened and lightly coloured. Add the oregano and rice, stir to coat, then pour in the stock, 1.3 litres of water, one and three-quarter teaspoons of salt and a good grind of pepper. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium-low and cook gently for an hour, stirring occasionally, until the rice has started to break down into the soup. Transfer 200g of the mixture (taking roughly equal amounts of solids and liquid) to a blender, add the roast garlic and lemon juice, and blitz smooth. Pour this back into the soup pot and keep warm until ready to serve; remove and discard the cinnamon sticks.
While the soup is cooking, put a large frying pan on a high heat. Remove the pips from the lemon rounds and, once the pan is hot, add them to the pan and cook for two minutes on each side, until nicely charred. Finely chop the charred lemon, then put it in a bowl with the parsley and spring onion.
Heat the remaining five tablespoons of oil and the sliced garlic in a small frying pan on a medium heat, and cook until the garlic starts to turn golden – eight to nine minutes. Add the chilli flakes, if using, cook for a minute more, then drain the solids through a sieve set over a bowl, and add the oil to the lemon and herb mixture.
Divide the soup between four bowls, top each portion with a drizzle of the lemon and herb dressing, followed by the reserved fried garlic and chilli, and serve.