Do you like Celeriac? Have you tried it before? Doesn’t matter, you haven’t had celeriac like this before so try this recipe! Crispy, roasted celeriac on top of a flavoursome celeriac and root vegetable medley.
I remember going home one weekend and my mother told me she’d recently had celeriac mash. What is celeriac? This was not a vegetable I had eaten before. I didn’t even know what it looked like. The following week, I perused the supermarket vegetable aisle and found this rather strange-looking root vegetable. I though this might be a fun challenge… lets create a dish completely focused on this odd-looking ingredient.
If you look up how to cook celeriac you might come across a lot of Celeriac mash recipes. This seems to be popular in celeriac recipes. I like to be a little more creative. I couldn’t decide between two very different ideas, so I decided to use both of them in the same dish. Et Voila we have the Double Celeriac Medley.
Benefits of Celeriac
Before we talk about this celeriac vegetable medley, we should quickly acknowledge why we should be eating celeriac. Celeriac is a great source of fibre which aids the digestive system. Celeriac also has a lot of vitamins such as Vitamin K, B6, C and it contains a large number of antioxidants. If you don’t want to try this recipe, then I would definitely recommend celeriac as a tasty and low-calorie alternative for potatoes.
Preparing the Celeriac
The outside of the celeriac is quite dirty and gnarly. I took a large, sharp knife and carefully peeled off the outside layer. I then cut the whole thing in half and put the two halves aside to prepare separately. One thing I would definitely advise is using a very sharp knife! I will always be an advocate for good quality, sharp knives, but especially so for cutting this vegetable. Please also place the flat side down so that you are keeping the celeriac in place whilst handling the knife.
Smells just like celery?
The first thing I noticed after cutting the celeriac, was that it smelt almost exactly like celery! Are Celery and Celeriac from the same plant? It turns out, celeriac and celery are very closely related and similar plants. Celery is grown for its stems and leaves. Celeriac plants are grown for the roots. Celeriac is also known as Celery root. The best way I can describe celeriac is as a cross between celery and parsnip and perhaps a small amount of turnip?
The first half I prepared by cutting into small 1cm cubes. Use some kitchen paper to quickly dry any liquid off of the cubes and then toss these in some olive oil and seasoning. This half is for roasting.
For the other half, I used a vegetable peeler to separate the celeriac into short ribbons. Celeriac is not as tough as other root vegetables so this actually doesn’t take too much time. It doesn’t matter if some sections are a little longer or shorter than others.
Cooking the Celeriac
The cubes of celeriac can be roasted in the oven at 200 degrees celsius for 50 minutes. It takes a long time to make it nice and crispy. The ribbon-ed celeriac will later be boiled in hot water until softened. This should only take 5-10 minutes so wait until some of the other vegetables are cooked first. Do not wash away the boiling water from the pan! We can use that celeriac-y flavour in with the other vegetables too. Once softened, drain the ribbons (keeping the water in a separate jug) and leave on the hot hob or on very low heat. This will let it steam dry for a few minutes.
I recommend cooking the other vegetables before softening the celeriac ribbons. Thoroughly brown the onions and soften the pepper before adding the boiling the ribbons. After draining the celeriac and steam drying on the hob, take a large amount of the drained water and pour over the onions. Don’t drown the vegetables but there should be just enough to cover them. Add a handful of spinach and let it simmer.
Béchamel sauce
Whilst the onion is frying, you will want to create a béchamel sauce. Once created, we will add leek, tomatoes, and coriander stems. The sauce should be simmering for a long time in order to soften the vegetables and infuse the flavour.
Once the water has slightly evaporated from the frying pan and mixed well, add the celeriac ribbons and vegetable sauce and let this simmer. Add in the goats cheese, fresh herbs, and extra seasoning and let simmer. Once the roasted celeriac is crispy, serve the celeriac vegetable medley with the roasted celeriac on top. This would also go well with my crunchy garlic bread recipe.
Double Celeriac Vegetable Medley
Ingredients
- 1 Celeriac
- 1 White Onion
- 1 Red Bell Pepper
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- ½ Leek
- 1 Handful Small Sweet Tomatoes
- 1 Cup Spinach
- 2 tbsp Plain Flour
- 400ml Unsweetened Oat Milk (or any milk alternative)
- 1 tsp Celery Salt
- 1 tsp Nutmeg
- 2 tsp Dried Oregano
- Salt
- Ground Pepper
- 4 tbsp Olive Oil
- Fresh Coriander / Cilantro
- 2 Spring Onions
- 150 g Hard Goats Cheese (or vegan hard cheese alternative)
- 75 g Pine Nuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200° C.
- Prepare the Celeriac by peeling and chopping in half. I suggest using a large, sharp knife to cut the bottom to create a flat surface and then carefully peel the outside layer of the celeriac with the knife.
- Take one half of the celeriac and carefully peel into short ribbons using a vegetable peeler. It doesn’t matter if the sizes are not even.
- Take the other half of the celeriac and carefully chop into 1cm cubes, toss these in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil, the celery salt, nutmeg, dried oregano and some salt and ground pepper. Once evenly coated, place on a baking tray or oven dish and place into the hot oven.
- Heat some oil in a frying pan on medium – high and add the diced onion until starting to brown.
- Whilst the onion is frying, heat a large saucepan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and then add in the flour and stir to create a paste. Add the milk to the saucepan and leave to simmer, stirring regularly.
- Dice the leek and add this to the simmering saucepan along with a handful of freshly chopped coriander stems, finely chopped tomatoes and a generous seasoning of salt and ground pepper
- Once the onions have started to brown, chop add the red pepper to the frying pan along with the crushed garlic.
- In another saucepan place the celeriac ribbons in some water and bring it to the boil. Wait for these to soften slightly –approximately 3-5 minutes in boiling water.
- Whilst the celeriac is softening, take a few tablespoons of the celeriac water and add to the frying pan, along with the spinach.
- Once the ribbons are softened, drain them over a jug so that you can collect the celeriac water.
- Add some of the water to the frying pan – you will want just enough so that the vegetables are covered and leave to sizzle for 2-3 minutes.
- Whilst sizzling, place the ribbons back in the saucepan and back on the hot hob or on low heat so that they can steam dry.
- Add the celeriac ribbons to the frying pan and then cover with the vegetable sauce from the saucepan and mix gently. Season with a pinch of celery salt and a large handful of finely chopped coriander.
- Finely grate the hard cheese and add ⅔ to the pan and leave the mixture to simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- Once the roasted celeriac is crispy on the outside, remove from the oven and serve on top of the celeriac mixture.
- Sprinkle over the rest of the goats cheese and garnish with the finely chopped spring onions and pine nuts.
