This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
Underneath it’s gnarled, knobbly exterior, celeriac is a fabulous creamy white-fleshed root vegetable that has a subtle, slightly nutty, celery-like flavour. Apart from being delicious, celeriac is high in fibre, potassium, magnesium and vitamin B6. Works very well mashed, used in slow cooked dishes or as a remoulade. TIP: Peel your celeriac thickly to get rid of any green tinges around the edge and any muddy leftovers.
Here are four tasty recipes using this sweet, nutty root vegetable:
Celeriac & Apple Soup with Walnuts
This is a recipe from Angela Hartnett. Serves 4 and is in your soup bowls in around 35 mins. Walnuts can be substituted for toasted hazelnuts and crispy fried sage leaves.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 whole celeriac, about 800g
- 25g butter
- 750ml vegetable stock, or a little more if needed
- 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into slices
- 200ml double cream
- 50g walnuts, roughly chopped
METHOD
- Peel and chop the celeriac into rough dice.
- Heat the butter in a large pan and sauté the celeriac for two minutes, stirring so it does not colour.
- Pour over the vegetable stock and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the celeriac is tender.
- Add the apple and cream and cook for another two minutes, then transfer to a food processor and blitz while still hot, for a smooth liquid. If it seems too thick, let it down a little with a bit of extra stock or water.
- Serve the soup hot, scattered with chopped walnuts.
Remoulade
If you like coleslaw, then you may well love remoulade! It is an absolute favourite side dish of mine, creamy and crunchy and slightly nutty. This is Mary Berry’s recipe:
INGREDIENTS
- 650g/1lb 7oz celeriac, peeled and sliced into thin matchsticks. For the best results, use a mandolin to slice the celeriac. However, if you’re pressed for time, a food processor gives good results. Use the largest grating attachment to give a coarse grating, rather than matchsticks.
- 1 lemon, juice only
For the dressing
- 6 tbsp light mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- ½ lemon, juice only
- pinch of sugar
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
- Put the celeriac in a bowl and cover with approximately 100ml/3½fl oz cold water. Add the lemon juice. Toss well to prevent it going brown.
- Mix all the dressing ingredients together and season with salt and pepper.
- Drain the celeriac, toss in the dressing and leave to soften for 30 minutes before serving.
Celeriac Lentil and Stilton Salad
Our third way with celeriac is another wonderful winter salad. Use this link for the recipe.
Prawn & Celeriac Tart
Last, but definitely not least, is Prawn & Celeriac tart. I never normally make pastry but this recipe, by Cathy Gayner from her cookbook Recipes From Le Rouzet, is a breeze and OMG the wonderful fragrance of a freshly cooked cheese pastry that floats around the kitchen!
Hundreds more tried & tasted recipes – almost all very easy to prepare – can be found here