Just in case you are wondering how good a baked celeriac can be, it’s very, very good.
It’s soft, herb-infused centre and slightly firmer outer layer works well as a crowning feature of almost any meal.
Here I teamed it with a warm couscous salad full of sweet pomegranate, heaps of parsley and a mild orange dressing. It’s a winning match for wedges of juicy baked celeriac.
Serves 2, Cooking time of 2 -2.5 hours (actual “doing” time of 10 mins, it mainly cooks itself)
Ingredients
For the baked celeriac
1 celeriac
2 sprigs of rosemary
4 sprigs of thyme
4 cloves of garlic, left unpeeled
rapeseed oil
For the couscous
100g couscous
2 spring onions, sliced
leaves from a bunch of parsley, roughly chopped
seeds from 1/2 pomegranate
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
sea salt and black pepper to season
(optional) some feta to crumble on top
For the dressing
juice of 1/2 an orange
grated zest of 1/4 of an orange
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of agave
1 teaspoon of sherry vinegar
1/4 of a teaspoon of turmeric (optional)
1 pinch of salt
Method
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C.
Crack the garlic cloves by pressing down on them until you hear a slight crack. This will just let the flavour actually make it to the celeriac instead of it sitting in the skin.
Tear off a piece of tin foil big enough to tightly wrap your celeriac in. Pop two cloves of garlic, a sprig of rosemary and 2 sprigs of thyme in the centre of it. Sit the celeriac on top then put the remaining herbs and garlic on top.
Drizzle with a liberal amount of rapeseed oil and wrap the tin foil around the celeriac ensuring that there are no gaps. Pop it in the oven and leave it there for 2 to 2.5 hours, until a knife slides through the middle with ease. It can have a small amount of bite around the top instead of it being completely mushy. Cut it into wedges to serve.
To make the couscous, boil some water in a kettle and put the dry couscous, alongside two good pinches of salt and some black pepper, in a large bowl.
Pour over enough boiling water to just cover the couscous. Put a plate or a piece of tin foil over the top of the bowl and let it sit until all of the water is absorbed, approximately 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan on a high heat until fragrant, 1-2 minutes and add it to the couscous. Add the pomegranate seeds, parsley and spring onion, season with a pinch of sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper and keep it warm while you make the dressing.
To make the dressing, squeeze one roasted garlic (from the celeriac) into a small bowl, add the remaining ingredients and whisk until well combined. Pour most of the dressing over the couscous, reserving a couple of tablespoons to drizzle over the celeriac wedges.
To serve, divide the couscous between two bowls, top with two celeriac wedges, the remaining dressing and some crumbled feta if desired.