This post was updated on 10/4/21
Celery Root: An Underappreciated Ingredient
This is one of the most surprisingly good recipes I’ve ever tasted. It truly is restaurant quality. The flavors are deep and complex. I never knew you could cook with the root of celery before coming across this. The recipe comes from Ina Garten’s “Back to Basics” cookbook. In this cookbook, she talks about key spices and ingredients to use in order to really bring out the flavors of certain foods without overpowering them. The combination of fragrant fennel with celery root and the addition of tangy apple cider and apples make this puree worthy of taking the place of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving. And I think mashed potatoes are pretty amazing, so you know that this recipe must be great!
Comfort Food and Health
When you think of comfort food, do you feel guilty? Don’t. If you use real ingredients and are sure to balance out the ratios of what you eat (fat, carbs, protein), then there is a place in every diet for comfort food. Real vegetables and fruit (celery root, potatoes, apples, fennel) are full of nutrients to nourish your body and contribute to good health. Butter contains butyrate (so good for you on many levels) and raw heavy cream is a healthy fat with natural probiotics. With all that good news, this is a comfort food you will want to eat more often than just holiday dinners.
See you next time,
Rebekah
Celery Root Apple Puree
Equipment
- Food processor, blender, or immersion blender
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter grass fed if possible
- 1 cup fennel bulb large diced
- 2 lbs. celery root peeled and large diced
- 1 cup Yukon Gold potatoes peeled and diced
- 3 Golden Delicious apples peeled, cored, sliced
- 1/2 cup unfiltered apple cider or water
- 1/4 cup heavy cream raw if possible
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Peel and chop celery root, fennel, potatoes, and apples.
- Melt butter in large pot over medium heat. Add fennel, celery root, potatoes, apples, salt, and pepper, and saute until vegetables start to soften, about 4-5 minutes. Add apple cider or water, tightly cover the pot, and simmer over low heat for 30-40 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
- Add heavy cream. Puree in pulses with immersion blender, leaving some chunks. Or, use a food processor or blender to puree.
- Serve with fennel fronds for garnish.
