Celery and Pear Soup Recipe
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This creamless soup combines one of our favorite overlooked vegetables with pears and shallots to create a light starter that’s delicate and complex-tasting.
What to buy: This is not the time to pull out bland celery commonplace in most supermarkets. Instead, look for fresh, green, unblemished celery and you’ll be rewarded with a nicely flavored soup.
INGREDIENTS
For the soup:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/4 stick)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup coarsely chopped shallots
- 1 1/2 cups peeled, coarsely chopped ripe pear, such as Bosc or Bartlett
- 4 cups coarsely chopped celery
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- 3 cups water
For the garnish (optional):
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 medium shallots, thinly sliced
INSTRUCTIONS
For the soup:
- In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter until foaming. Add olive oil, shallots, and pear, season well with salt and ground white pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add celery and thyme, season with more salt and pepper, and sweat until most of the liquid has evaporated and the celery has just started to soften, about 12 minutes.
- Add broth and water, increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and simmer until celery is tender, about 10 minutes.
- Using a blender, purée soup in batches until smooth. Return soup to the stove to reheat. Season well with salt and pepper.
For the garnish (optional):
- Heat olive oil in a small frying pan until bubbling or about 325°F to 350°F.
- Add half of the shallots and fry until golden. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels, season with salt, and repeat with remaining shallots.
- Serve soup topped with fried shallots.
Beverage pairing: The delicate and fine flavors here suggest a Riesling, but to reinforce the rare and green flavor of celery, try going to a comparable but different wine, Grüner Veltliner from Austria. A light style with a little characteristic pepper fits the bill: 2006 Schloss Gobelsburg Gobelsburger.
This recipe is close to one I've used for years. Mine is pear and leek and the secret ingredient to add is summer savoury (straight from the bottle). Thyme works the same way. I'll definitely try this with celery next time to compare. People think pear soup is odd, but once tried, it's very memorable.
I actually used this recipe as a reference. I used more pears then celery and added two parsnips. The soup was divine, a real show stopper at the dinner I brought it to. I will be posting the exact recipe on my blog very soon, so definitely keep your eyes peeled. www.tomatosnob.blogspot.com
I have been looking for a Pear and Celery soup recipe for years that I had as a first course on the QE II. It was servered cold and the best thing I think I have ever eaten. No recipe has come close so far. Look forward to trying this.
This was a great compliment to our Thanksgiving meal. I used a bit more thyme and was a bit more generous with the white pepper and it was a giant hit with our 7 guests.
Sorry for the typo..."It"sounds better than it tastes and looks
This is a delicate tasting ( read bland) and unattractive soup. In the soup universe, I see no reason to repeat preparing this one. I sounds better than it tastes and looks.
cdesoto: thanks for drawing our attention to this recipe. the 1/2 cup oil is for frying the shallots-not for the soup base. it's changed now!
This is a strange and beautiful soup. The taste is subtle and easily overshadowed, so serve it well in advance of the rest of the meal. It has a beautiful color and texture. I've made this soup three times in the last two weeks, too rave reviews. To be fair, I have never made it with the 1/2 cup oil called for (that seemd like a misprint to me.) I use 1tbs butter and 1tbs oil.
This tastes horrible!!! The taste is just somewhat off, strange, certainly not worth the effort, time, chopping, etc. Keep this one out of your recipe book.