Prep time: 15-20 min; cook time: 30 min; serves 4-6

500g celeriac (roughly one medium root)
200g potatoes
2 onions, chopped
40ml extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1.5 litres chicken or vegetable stock
A pinch of nutmeg

For the pesto

120g cobnuts (or hazelnuts), toasted
100ml extra-virgin olive oil
100g mint
1 small clove garlic
Salt and pepper

Preheat soup bowls in a warm oven (or microwave). Cut the roots and skin from the celeriac and cut it into chunks. Peel the potatoes and cut them into similar-sized pieces. Sweat the onions in the olive oil for 5 min before adding the celeriac and potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, and cook for 10 min until the vegetables start turning translucent at the edges.

Add the garlic and stir for a few minutes before pouring in the stock. Simmer for 20 min, or until the vegetables are cooked through and then purée with a stick blender (or in a liquidiser).

To make the pesto, blitz all the remaining ingredients. Pour the soup into the warmed bowls and garnish with a generous swizzle of the pesto.

Nutritionist’s verdict

Tuck in . . . for a nutritious snack

A bowl of this warming winter soup is a nutritious start to any meal. Celeriac and potatoes, while not bursting with vitamin C, are useful contributors and one bowl gives more than half our daily needs. Celeriac is also good for folate, the B vitamin needed for healthy arteries. The pesto adds a really good slug of the heart-friendly vitamin E to your soup.

Steer clear . . . if you want to avoid fatty food

Be aware that the pesto is made with oil and nuts and is inevitably high in fat, albeit good fat, which will not raise cholesterol. (www.amandaursell.com )

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