N.B. I did not take this photo – but this is broadly what mine looked like
NOT a brain in a tin – things haven’t got that bad.
It is of course an entire baked celeriac, the recipe for which I fell upon, (by Ottolenghi, naturally), because it just looked to easy and crazy not to try it.
I like celeriac, but normally you have to do horrendous, possibly illegal things to it in order to render it edible – cut it into chips, (of COURSE I’ve got 9 spare hours), then cover it in tomato ketchup, or grate it and cover it in mayonnaise.
This dish reminds me of a famous pudding Alice Waters used to serve – this may well be an apocryphal story – at Chez Panisse, which was just a single, perfect peach and a sharp knife with which to eat it. This is why I love Americans – they can be so blindingly uncynical and literal. It’s an enormous freedom of sorts.
Anyway this recipe is barely a recipe, more of a sort of physical prayer, an act of devotion to this root vegetable with a face only a mother could love.
All you do is get a celeriac, scrub it – don’t even peel it – and weigh it. Although weighing it isn’t even that necessary.
Lightly grind a heaped teaspoon of coriander seeds (also not essential) then cover the celeriac with oil, 1 heaped tsp of sea salt and the crushed seeds.
Then put it in a tin and into a 170C oven.
A big celeriac 1.2kg will take 3 hours. One half the size will take half the time. It pretty much can’t overcook so just leave it in there all afternoon if you want.
Then you cut it into wedges and serve with a squeeze of lemon. If you’ve got one. I also have in my mind that this might be really nice with some Sriracha swirled into yoghurt… but then, I’ve always got half a mind thinking about Sriracha.
I’m now vaguely wondering if you can do an entire dinner made out of “whole, baked” things – camembert, fish, celeriac… what else?
Call me old fashioned (no dont actually) but what about a baked potato! Old school not sweet! Cant beat that imho but this looks delicious too! X
This is great! Will try.. Love celeriac; sometimes chop it together with potatoes and makes a gorgeous celery tasting mashed potato.
Try whole roasted cauliflower. I got the recipe in the New York Times but it will be on Google. Love the celeriac idea. They’ve always confounded me. Sriracha and yohurt is always good. I had mine with a roast red pepper sauce – dead easy, as you roast the red peppers with the cauliflower, then blitz with tahini, lemon, garlic.
Deb do you skin the peppers?
Oops yes. When soft, remove peppers, cover with foil to steam and let cool a bit. Skin slides off easily. The sauce is similar to a romesco sauce (made with almonds) Very delicious. x
thanks! might just whizz up one of my trusty jars of roasted skinned peppers (I am so v lazy these days)
Beetroot.
yes
Would this work as a vegetarian main on Christmas day? Or would the flavours clash?
Anna no I would not make this the centrepiece
OK I will hold off, it was just for the one vegetarian out of nine attending but maybe a bit too low key. But so easy!!!
Whole roast Cauliflower!! With a tiny bit of Parmesan and capers.
Brilliant. Will try this at the weekend. We got a very ugly looking celeriac in our veg box this week and my immediate thought was, “ugh, what am I going to do with that, what a pain etc” Here’s to whole roasted EVERYTHING and putting feet up while dinner cooks to watch Real Housewives of New York, or something of similar time wasting but vital must-see de-stress tv.
Sasha YES
a friend made this Ottolenghi celeriac recipe with parma ham instead of smoked trout and it was really delicious -the sauce goes perfectly with the celeriac
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/baked_celeriac_with_34623
Baked Camembert with Sriracha !
I’ve seen it
It’s the future
Plus highly addictive
*put the sriracha down, step away from the fridge slowly and no one will get hurt
lol
Ooh, that might stop me chucking the ones my mother in law gives me on the compost. I love remoulade, but honestly it takes HOURS. They do look a lot like troll heads don’t they…..