Cream of Celery Soup with Fines Herbs Sauce Verte

Adapted by StarChefs.com
June 2012
Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

Soup
3 leeks, sliced thin (white and light-green parts only)
3 cups diced yellow onions
4 tablespoons butter
3 to 5 cloves garlic
salt
black pepper
1 bunch celery, sliced thin (avoiding leaves and root)
water
½ bunch flat leaf parsley
crème fraîche
Sauce Verte
3 tablespoons Italian parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chervil, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
¼ cup olive oil
salt
Agrumato extra virgin olive oil pressed with lemons
To Assemble and Serve
heavy cream

METHOD:

For Soup:

Sweat leeks and onions in butter until they are translucent. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute more, then season with salt and pepper. Add celery and cook for two more minutes, then cover with water by an inch and cook until celery is soft. Blanch the parsley for 15 seconds in salty boiling water, and then shock in ice water. Purée the parsley with the soup until smooth, and then add crème fraiche.
For Sauce Verte:

Toss the parsley, chervil, and chives in a small mixing bowl with olive oil. In a separate dish, marinate the shallots with vinegar and salt.
To Assemble and Serve:

Mix the shallots with the Sauce Verte just before serving. Ladle the soup into warm bowls, garnish with Sauce Verte and add a drizzle of lemon oil.