PEAR & CHAMPAGNE SOUP w/BLUE CHEESE

By BobD

Ingredients

• 4 cups vegetable stock (preferably homemade)
• 5 ripe pears (d'Anjou or Comice)--peeled, cored and cut into ½-inch pieces
• ¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes
• 1 cup dry Champagne or sparkling wine
• Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
• Juice of 2 lemons (about ¼ cup)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled and at room temperature
• 12 celery leaves

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the vegetable stock and pears to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook until the pears are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the red-pepper flakes and remove the saucepan from the heat.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, blend the pears and stock until smooth. Pass the soup through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Stir in the Champagne, lemon zest and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Divide the soup among 4 shallow bowls and garnish with the blue cheese and celery leaves. Serve immediately.