Celery Root and Pear Soup

Ingredients

For the Saffron Oil:

• Large pinch of crushed red pepper
• Pinch of saffron threads
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

For the Soup:

• 1 celery root, peeled and cubed
• 1 pear (I used a d’anjou pear), peeled and cored and roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper or white pepper

For the Topping:

• 2 tablespoons of creme fraiche + teaspoon of water + pinch of salt, whisked until smooth

Instructions

1. 1
   To make the saffron-oil: To a small bowl, combine the crushed red pepper, saffron, olive oil and allow to stand for 1 day. (If you don’t have time and you want this soup, like, right now, feel free to use just olive oil.)
2. 2
   To make the soup: I don’t have a steamer so I made a make-shift one. To do so, take a strainer/sieve and place it atop a medium saucepan that’s filled with about 3 to 4 inches of water. Turn the heat to medium and add the cubed celery root to the strainer/sieve and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes and then add the pear. Cook for an additional 10 minutes. If you have a steamer, you are fancy; feel free to use it.
3. 3
   Carefully remove the strainer—it’ll be hot! Pour the steaming water into a measuring cup. You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups. Pour about half of that water into a blender and then add the celery root and pear. Blend it up until it turns into a puree; be sure to allow steam to escape because it’ll be hot! It will be the consistency of a puree rather than a soup, add more water until it gets to the consistency that you like. I added the entire 1 1/2 cups. (Note: If you’re steaming liquid doesn’t measure out to be the entire 1 1/2 cups, feel free to use water, vegetable broth or chicken broth.)
4. 4
   Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and pepper; give it a taste. If you like you can add the additional 1/2 teaspoons of salt (I did!). Divide amongst bowls and top with a drizzle of saffron oil and creme fraiche.