Celery-Celeriac Soup with Roquefort Croutons

Ingredients

• 2  bay leaves 
• 4 inch bread french
• 1 tablespoon butter 
• 4 cups celery root peeled chopped (celery root; 2 medium)
• 2 cups celery thinly sliced
• 28 ounce fat-skimmed beef broth fat-free canned
• 0.5 teaspoon pepper black
• 0.3 cup half and half 
• 1 cup leek thinly sliced ( 1 large)
• 1 cup milk 2% reduced-fat
• 2 ounces roquefort cheese crumbled
• 0.5 teaspoon salt 
• 0.5 cup shallots chopped
• 2  thyme sprigs 
• 1 cup water 
• 1.5 cups yukon gold potatoes cubed peeled

Equipment

• bowl
• baking sheet
• ladle
• blender
• broiler
• dutch oven
• cutting board

Directions

1. To prepare soup, melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add leek and shallots; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in celeriac and next 5 ingredients (through bay leaves); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in celery, milk, salt, and pepper; simmer 10 minutes (do not boil).
3. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves and thyme.
4. Place half of celery mixture in a blender; process until smooth.
5. Pour pureed celery mixture into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining celery mixture. Stir in half-and-half.
6. Preheat broiler.
7. To prepare croutons, arrange bread in a single layer on a baking sheet; coat with cooking spray. Broil 1 minute or until golden. Turn bread over; sprinkle each bread slice with 1 tablespoon cheese. Broil 1 minute or until cheese melts; cool 1 minute on baking sheet.
8. Place bread on a cutting board; cut each bread slice into 6 wedges to form croutons. Ladle about 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with 6 croutons.
9. Serve immediately.