The roasted celeriac was the revelation recipe of our last Christmas.
A vegetable, celeriac, which I had already tried in the Waldorf Salad (remember it?), but cooked this way, it transforms into a surprising vegan main course, everyone loved it, everyone asked for seconds, and everyone said it absolutely needs to be made again!
I had “eyed” this roasted celeriac for a long time. Two-three years ago, I saw some photos that intrigued me; it looked so inviting, and so… like a roast! 😄 that I immediately put it in the “drawer” of things to try sooner or later.
Of course, not that the “roast look” is important, it’s not mandatory to make vegetables look like a main course, as sometimes happens with vegan dishes, but you can’t deny it does look like a roast, even though it obviously smells different. And even seen “live”, and even smelling its celery aroma, it’s hard to think it’s a vegetable, and the spontaneous question that comes to mind is: but what is it?
Really. That’s the first spontaneous question, for those who don’t know it’s celeriac, there are a couple of moments of doubt. They immediately think of a main course, though guessing it’s not meat, and in that moment of indecision, they think of this and that, the main and the side dish, and so… that “but what is it?” in the end, someone among your diners will surely ask you, as happened here at my home! 😃
〰〰〰
👇 More ideas for a vegan or vegetarian main course:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 2 Hours
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan
- Seasonality: Winter, Spring
Ingredients
- 1 celeriac
- 1 clove garlic
- aromatic herbs (rosemary, sage, thyme, oregano, marjoram)
- onion
- pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
Tools
- Knife kitchen
- Aluminum food roll
- Baking Dish oval
How to prepare roasted celeriac:
Wash and peel the celeriac with a vegetable peeler on the smoother parts, and with a knife on the rougher parts.
👉 Be careful with any crevices where some earthy residue might remain.
After peeling, wash it again (and brush it, if necessary) to remove any possible residue.
Cut the celeriac in half. Then later I’ll explain why, follow the asterisk (*)
Grease the surface of the two halves of celeriac with a little oil, rubbing it with your hands, and season with a mix of aromatic herbs (but only rosemary can also work) – I made a mix of rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, and sage – plus a sliced garlic clove and pepper. Thanks to the oil, everything will stick to the surface.
☝ I also tried to make slits and insert the garlic slices in the cuts, it wasn’t easy because the celeriac is quite hard, but I managed.
Wrap the two halves of the celeriac with a sheet of foil and let it rest for a while.
😄 (as usual I got lost in my thousand chores and) left it to rest for 4 hours, which in the end does no harm, but one or two hours can be enough.
Place the two “packages” in a baking dish and bake at 392°F (200°C) as they are – that is, with the two halves of celeriac still wrapped and without opening the foil – and cook for about an hour (50 minutes can also be fine). After half an hour I lowered it to 356°F (180°C).
☝ Important: the cooking time is indicative. Cooking it various times over time, I’ve found different timings, both for the size (a celeriac can weigh 500 g but some go up to 1 kg), and because some are harder and firmer and others less so, that is, some are cut (raw) more easily while others are harder and difficult to cut.
Once cooked, remove the foil and slice the celeriac. Here’s how the outer surface looks. I remembered to take a photo when I had already started slicing it, but this photo still shows quite well what it looks like:
After slicing it, you can already serve it, but I recommend a brief pass in the oven to color the slices a bit: arrange the slices in a baking dish, add some fresh rosemary, and if desired, other herbs to taste.
I also added a half an onion chopped coarsely and placed it on the sides of the slices, even a bit underneath, finally, I added a drizzle of oil.
Reheat in the oven or under the grill for about ten minutes, or until the desired golden color.
Serve hot, but I assure you roasted celeriac is delicious even cold.
Try it! I’m sure you’ll like it! Serve it to your guests… and surprise them! 😄
(*) Thinking I was being clever – and honestly, I think I was – I cut the celeriac in half and wrapped the two halves in foil, instead of treating the whole root. This way, I think I found a good compromise between good outcome and shortened cooking time. The cooking times I’ve seen around are quite long, around 2 hours, but my two halves (to my surprise) were already cooked at the end of the hour of cooking I had planned, in fact, maybe even ten minutes less would have sufficed, considering I intended to re-bake the “roast” after slicing it.
Advice without salt
Try it without added salt! Celeriac has its own particular taste, delicate on the palate while having a intense aroma and as with all vegetables, especially those with characteristic flavors, even in this recipe you can absolutely skip the salt. Here then… with all the aromatic herbs that can be added, what’s the problem! 😊
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▫ Gradually decrease the salt, the palate needs to get used to it slowly and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▫ Use spices. Chili pepper, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▫ Use aromatic herbs. Basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▫ Use seeds. Sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▫ Use spicy vegetables or fruits. Garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▫ Use my vegetable granules without salt
▫ Prefer fresh foods.
▫ Avoid cooking in water, prefer cooking methods that don’t disperse flavors (grill, foil, steam, microwave)
▫ Avoid bringing the salt shaker to the table!
▫ Sometimes allow a break from the rules. It’s good for mood and helps to persevere.
If you don’t want, or can’t, give up salt:
▫ You can still try my recipes seasoned according to your habits.
Follow me!
On my Facebook page, on my Pinterest boards, in my two groups: Il gruppo di Catia, in cucina e oltre and Exactly what I was looking for! and if you like… subscribe to my Newsletter
On my Facebook page, on my Pinterest boards, in my two groups: Il gruppo di Catia, in cucina e oltre and Exactly what I was looking for! and if you like… subscribe to my Newsletter
