Celeriac - half potato, half celery?!

 I will admit that Penny didn't choose this freaky looking vegetable from the list. I bought it because I wanted to try it, but in the spirit of things Penny was happy to give it a try.

I wanted to make celeriac and potato bake which seemed easy (because what I probably should have said from the start here is that I am NOT the best cook!)

To make the bake from the GBVC book we first had to make a celeriac purée (also from the GBVC book!)

Celeriac Purée (serves 4 as a side)

1 large celeriac, peeled & cubed
Juice of one lemon
50g butter
100ml half-fat crème fraîche
Salt & ground black pepper to season

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the celeriac cubes and lemon juice.

Boil the celeriac for 15-20 minutes until tender then drain well.

Put into a food processor or bowl for hand blending. Add butter - which will melt with the hot celeriac - and crème fraîche and blend until the celeriac is smooth and you have a nice purée.

Season with salt and ground pepper.

NB: we used Lurpak Lightest for a much lower-fat but still buttery delicious taste.

It is very creamy! The girls helped blend and tasted it on its own.

For the bake:

(serves 4)

All of that purée!
3-4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 5mm thick slices
25g Parmesan cheese (grated)

Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas Mark 7)

Par-boil the potatoes for 4-5 minutes until just beginning to soften. Drain carefully.

In a round or oval dish, put a layer or potato slices, then spread an even layer of purée over the potato, then another layer of potato and so forth until the potato is gone then finish with a layer of purée.

Sprinkle with Parmesan, then cook in the oven for 15 minutes until the top is golden brown.

We had a bit of a potato issue - i.e. I got the wrong size ones, then asked Stephen to get me some and HE got me the wrong size ones too! Also we didn't have an oval or round dish, only rectangular - so it took longer to cook than it should, but everyone tasted it! (Note: have just realised I didn't have the oven hot enough. Did I mention I don't really cook?!)

The girls had baked beans (again) and we had mixed veg with ours.

To be fair I would say this was a definite acquired taste, but it got better the more you ate and Penny did give it a try - which is STILL the most important thing to me at this point!

She gave it 4/10 (she is keeping a list on her Innotab!) She wasn't keen on the purée on its own so when it was baked with the potato she said she only liked it a bit more.

It's very creamy, celery-y and potato-y and would taste lovely with some meat. I think I might make it again one day and put it with a roast or something as an alternative to mash.

Does anyone else have any other recipes that they've made with celeriac that we could try in future?