Coquina, Celeriac and White Lentil Crock Pot Soup

Super easy, nutritious and warming, this crock pot soup is a perfect way to warm up on chilly winter days. We've had a bit of a cold snap this past week - the lawn is like tundra and the poor rabbits' water is frozen rock solid every morning.

This kind of weather always makes me crave hot soup and I'd already bought a celeriac with this in mind. The celeriac gives the majority of the taste to the soup while the coquina squash adds sweetness and a beautiful yellow colour. Dried coriander brings fragrance and a warming hint of spice. The lentils give substance and protein to the soup.

The only part that requires a bit of forward planning are the white lentils / hulled black gram  - they need to be soaked overnight and then cooked on the hob for 15 minutes to start them off before everything is thrown in the slow cooker / crock pot to gently cook for 3 hours while you get on with other things.

Here's the recipe but it's not imperative to follow exactly - add any kind of root vegetable and experiment!

Coquina, Celeriac and White Lentil Soup Crock Pot Recipe
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:
1 x celeriac
1 x small coquina squash
100g dried white lentils (urid / urad dal or hulled black lentils also known as mung beans), soaked overnight
1 litre of vegetable stock (marigold)
300ml milk
2 teaspoons dried coriander
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Rinse the lentils / urad dal thoroughly, put in a pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly for 15 minutes adding more water if necessary to avoid burning. Skim of scum occasionally.
While the lentils soften, peel and cut the celeriac and squash into large chunks - about 2cm.
Put the lentils and veg in the slow cooker and pour over the stock and milk. Add the coriander and loupes of pepper. Give everything a stir.
Set the crock pot to high and cook for 3-4 hours until all the veg and lentils are soft.
Add the olive oil and purée / blend the soup in batches until smooth and creamy.
Serve with a sprinkle of ground coriander or a sprig of fresh coriander.
I served my soup with garlic bread.