1 (small or half large) head Celeriac
1 Head Celery
2 Leeks
1 Potato
60g (2 oz). Butter
1 Ltr (2 pints) Stock
60g (2 oz). Sliced Almonds

Open up head of Celery and rinse to remove any grit.
Take off the outer stalks and their leaves (about half of the head) and chop roughly.

Dice the heart finely with the inner stalks and leaves and put aside.

Peel and roughly chop the potato and celeriac
Remove any coarse green leaves from the leeks and slice down into rings.
Rinse these thoroughly in a collander in cold water (make sure you get rid of all the grit).

Put the celeriac,potato, leek with the outer celery stalks into a heavy pan whick has a lid and cook them with the butter until they are soft.
(This will take 20 mts or so )
Add the stock and bring up to the boil.
Once it has boiled for a few minutes pour into a liquidiser and process until very smooth.Because celery strings can be difficult to destroy I usually push this soup through a sieve after liquidising. It should be smooth and creamy.
In a dry non-stick pan gently fry the almonds with the chopped celery heart until they brown a little at the edges.
Toss these back into the soup and reheat- you do not have to boil it as it may stick., taste and season with pepper and salt.

The crisp almonds and celery give this soup a terrific crunch.