I love celeriac, and was very sad when it was not available for a while. This is a deliciously tasty dish that I have been waiting to try, and now celeriac are back, I am busy hunting out the recipes. This one is from Ottolenghi’s book, ‘Simple’.
INGREDIENTS:
- 450g beef mince
- 1 onion, very finely chopped or grated (a food processer works well)
- 120g plain breadcrumbs
- 20g chopped parsley
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 3/4 tsp allspice
- olive oil
- 1 small or half a large celeriac, peeled, quartered and each quarter sliced into fans 1cm thick
- 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 1/2 tsp lightly crushed fennel seeds
- 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 500ml stock
- 3 to 4 tbsp lemon juice
- salt and pepper
METHOD:
- Put the mince, onions, egg, breadcrumbs, parsley and allspice in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, and kneed the mixture together and then form into meatballs, about the size of a pingpong ball, or slightly smaller. Each ball should weigh around 40g
- Heat the oil in a large saute pan that has a lid. Once the oil is hot, add the meatballs and fry them off over five minutes, turning them so that they are browned all over. Transfer them onto a plate so the pan is free for the next step.
- Turn the heat up and add the celeriac, the rest of the spices and the garlic, and fry for a couple of minutes.
- Once the garlic starts to colour, add the meatballs, stock, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and bring to the boil. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
- Simmer with the lid on for around 30 minutes, then take the lid off and reduce the sauce for around 10 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove from the heat for around 10 minutes. This gives you time to sort out any accompaniments.
I served this with rice, and with some Greek yoghurt that I had seasoned with salt, pepper and mint. I garnished the dish with more parsley.