It was cold last weekend and it felt like soup weather, my vegetable drawer was sadly lacking, with only half a head of celery that I had bought for making braised puy lentils and bulb of garlic, that had sprouted. I found a piece of very ripe stilton in the freezer, I must have plonked it in there after Christmas, probably as it started to make the fridge smell too much! (Fuss Free Tip: Keep a box of cheese rinds in the freezer for easy extra flavour for soups)
Celery and Stilton Soup (serves 2)
Half a head of celery roughly chopped
(Onion / leeks optional)
3 cloves garlic
50g very ripe stilton
250ml chicken stock (or Marigold for vegetarians)
Fry the celery and garlic in olive oil with some pepper and salt until softened (slice up and add the base of head of celery as it is bursting with flavour. Add the stock and stilton (mine were still frozen when they went in). Cook until the cheese is melted. Blitz with a stick blender and add water or milk to thin if needed.
It was delicious and bursting with flavour. Because the stilton I had was over ripe it had loads of flavour with little fat. If you have onions, leeks etc add them too.
This soup also freezes well.