Celeriac Pasta with Puttanesca Sauce
Serves 4

 

This is a wonderful GUEST RECIPE from My New Roots, link below, which has some wonderful

dishes which we are trying out.  This is an excellent supper dish!  However, my newly acquired Spiraliser failed to cope with the celeriac and so I was forced to make thin slices using a vegetable peeler.   On further investigation, I may have to invest in a vertical Japenese model which rated the best according to The Daily Telegraph, but it is by far the most expensive.  However, having tried out this dish, it is a fabulous and ingenious way of presenting and enjoying vegetables differently and this felt like a good filling meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:
1 lb. / 500g celeriac

 

AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO....

 

1. Slice off the knobby exterior of the celeriac – this may leave you with only ¾ of the original vegetable.    Slice the root into half-inch (1.25cm) sections. Using a mandoline slicer, run the celeriac slices lengthwise to create ribbons.   I recommend a 1mm thickness.   On this occasion, I used a vegetable peeler, but my experiments with a Spiraliser so far show that it is a far quicker and easier way of preparing vegetables and we really liked that.
    

2. Or alternatively, you can use a Spiraliser to get your "pasta" ribbons, which is what I attempted to do!
    

3. Place celeriac ribbons in a large bowl and toss with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to prevent browning. Set aside until ready to use.  Personally, I prefer to blanche it in boiling water for a few minutes (about 5 mins seems about right)  to make it a little softer.

 

 

Puttanesca Sauce
 

Ingredients:
¼ cup /60ml high-quality olive oil
2 medium red onions, cut into small wedges
5 cloves garlic, cut into tiny cubes
1-2 tsp. crushed chili flakes (optional, using more or less according to taste)
(14oz/400g) organic firm red tomatoes, cut into quarters
3 Tbsp. capers, plus more for garnish
7oz /200g high-quality mixed green and black olives  plus more for garnish
1 tbp. balsamic vinegar
Sea Salt

Freshly ground black pepper
caper berries for garnish (optional)
flat-leaf parsley for garnish

 

To Serve

Hot crusty bread

Freshly made Houmous

 

 

AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO.....

 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C
    

2. Take a roasting dish and place the tomatoes, onions, chilli and garlic in it together with seasoning.  Now drizzle with olive oil and add some balsamic, mix the vegetables well and roast in the oven for about 20 - 30 mins, until the veg are soft and starting to brown.
    

3. When the veg are done, switch the oven off and leave until required.
    

4. Towards the end of the cooking time, boil a pan of water and add the thinlly sliced celeriac and some salt and then blanche for about five minutes.  The celeriac should be softer, but still retaining some firmness.
    

5. Whilst the vegetables are cooking, If you wish to do so, you can pit the olives by lining several up on a cutting board and smashing them with the flat side of a knife blade. The pits are now easily removed.   Roughly chop once or twice.  However, I chose to leave mine whole as they looked more colourful and with three different varieties, you can better enjoy the taste of them.
    

6. Add the capers and olives to the roasted vegetables, mixing well
    

7. Place desired servings of celeriac pasta in each bowl.    Serve with the hot vegetables on top, and garnish with a few extra olives, capers and caper berries.     Drizzle with olive oil and chopped parsley.    Serve with hot crusty bread with houmous.   Enjoy.