Purée de céleri rave

puree celeri rave1

Puréed celeriac

This flavorful purée is light and goes well with poultry, meat or other vegetables. For best results, mash the cooked celeriac with a fork, rather than using a blender, in order to retain some of the texture.

1 small celeriac or half of a larger one
1 tbsp. crème fraîche or sour cream
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut the celeriac into thick slices and trim off the greens and earthy exterior. Cut into chunks.

Steam or boil the celeriac pieces until tender, about 25 minutes.

Drain the celeriac, transfer to a bowl and mash with a fork. Add the cream, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary.

Reheat very gently just before serving. Serves 2.

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3 Responses to Purée de céleri rave

  1. Alexandre says:

    OMG! Even my neighbor here in the middle of France -not a very good cook at all- knows that you need to cook the celeriac in MILK, never ever in water… And don’t put lemon in the dish, but a little moutarde d’Orleans -or if need be ordinary french mustard-, butter and olive oil. Hazelnut oil is the best by the way, but not everyone has that around. Now you’re getting somewhere.
    PS: you could bake the shredded celeriac ten minutes in butter and then add the milk. Also very interesting.

    • Meg says:

      Mon cher Alexandre,
      Thanks for the advice. Maybe some readers would like to try your method. But I’ve been making it the other way for years now and it’s a dish people (pardon the expression) rave about!
      Best, Meg

      • GeeEs says:

        I am used to it being simmered in milk, but your way sounds good, there is no definitive way to make it. I do love it with some chervil and/or toasted hazelnuts as garnish. To me it should be very bland, the flavor is very delicate and the lemon should be measured precisely or its going to turn to lemon puree. Too much mustard would make it mustard puree too.
        Celery root is one of my favorite vegetables, I love impressing people with its simplicity and versatility — celery root fries with some aioli, omg, heaven. Turn your kids into francophiles. Its kind of weird to me that it is so quintessentially French, but it is so easy to grow and store many co-ops in the US are in on our little secret, just people don’t know what to do with it when they get one in their box. Leftovers are especially good as the top of a parmentier or shepherd’s pie too.
        You can also save the greens for a fresh garnish, use like fines herbes.

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