Celeriac and Pear Soup

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon peppercorns black crushed
• 3 tablespoons butter 
• 1  carrots chopped
• 4  celery root cubed peeled (celery roots)
• 3 stalks celery chopped
• 1 tablespoon parsley dried
• 1 teaspoon sage dried crumbled
• 1 teaspoon tarragon dried
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 16 servings salt and ground pepper black to taste
• 0.5 cup heavy cream 
• 1  onion chopped
• 3  pears cored peeled chopped
• 1 large potatoes cubed peeled
• 1  shallots minced
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves dried
• 8 cups vegetable broth 

Equipment

• pot
• blender
• kitchen towels

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, shallot, and onion. Cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the celeriac, carrot, celery, potato, and 1 cup of the vegetable broth; cook and stir until the vegetables are heated, about 5 minutes before pouring in the remaining broth. Season with the pepper, tarragon, sage, thyme, and parsley; gently stir the pears into the mixture; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Remove the soup from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes; stir the cream into the soup.
4. Pour the soup into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup right in the cooking pot. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.