Marco’s baked celeriac with cheese and truffle
Time: Approx. 1 hr 45 mins
Serves 4 as a side dish
“Nutty, peppery and creamy, celeriac is an underused vegetable but it’s versatile and I love it” Marco
Marco’s baked celeriac with cheese and truffle features as part of his ‘Delicious vegetarian cooking’ course available through BBC Maestro here. The truffle can be replaced with crispy fried onions.
Source: Marco Pierre White
Ingredients
- A whole celeriac
- Half a lemon
- Emmental cheese finely sliced
- Truffle finely sliced and truffle juices
- 20g unsalted butter chilled
- To finish parsley finely chopped
- For assembling – five to six skewers or cocktail sticks
Method
Tim and discard the roots of the celeriac and peel it retaining its shape.
rub the celeriac with the lemon half to help prevent discolouration.
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil.
Place the celeriac in a roasting bag (or vacuum seal bag or clingfilm blanket)
Add a pinch or two of salt then seal the bag.
Placed the sealed celeriac in the pan of water and poach for 75 minutes.
Try to keep the water’s temperature at just below boiling point (about 95C)
Once out of the pan, allow the sealed celeriac to cool before removing it from the bag (or clingfilm).
Retain the juices for the sauce.
Preheat the oven to 140C.
Once cooked slice the base of the celeriac (about 2cm thick) and finely slice the celeriac crossways about 1/2 cm thick.
As you slice lay the slices on top of each other in the order in which they are removed.
Leave the cap of the celeriac quite thick (2-3 cm).
Reconstruct the celeriac on a lined baking tray.
Place the celeriac base on a baking tray or roasting tin. Lightly season it with salt and pepper. Lay a slice of cheese on top. Next, place a slice of truffle on the cheese slice, and in the centre. Place a slice of celeriac on top.
Repeat the process, reconstructing the celeriac, a light season, cheese slice, truffle slice, celeriac slice.
Continue until the celeriac is reconstructed in its original layers. Finish by placing the celeriac cap on top.
A scaffolding of skewers helps to hold the layers in place during baking and bake for 30 minutes.
While the celeriac bakes make the sauce (it only takes a few minutes). In a small saucepan over a medium heat bring the truffle juice to the boil and let it reduce by half. Pour in some retained celeriac juices and bring back to the boil. Remove the pan from the heat and vigorously whisk in the chilled butter, season to your taste.
To serve – cut the baked celeriac into slices, from top to base or lift the layers and serve. Pour over the sauce and scatter with finely chopped parsley.
Note – If you don’t like truffle replace with crispy fried onions Finely slice the onions lengthways, and then deep fry the slices at 160C until golden, or shallow fry the onion slices in a saute pan. Pat dry the slices with kitchen paper and add them in palce of the truffle while reconstructing the layers of celeriac.