Roasted and pickled celeriac with sweet chilli dressing
Ottolenghi serves celeriac two ways with a flavour-packed sweet chilli dressing. You can make the pickled celeriac up to three days ahead.
Ingredients
For the pickled celeriac
- 3 limes
- 1 medium celeriac, trimmed, peeled and cut into thin 6cm/2½in long batons
- 3 celery sticks, cut into thin 6cm/2½in long batons
- 2 garlic cloves, skin on and crushed with the side of a knife
- 150ml/5fl oz rice vinegar
- 20g/½ oz flaky sea salt
For the roasted celeriac
- 1 whole celeriac, washed and patted dry
- dash olive oil
- pinch flaked sea salt
- drizzle maple syrup or honey (optional)
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced at an angle, to serve
- 5g/â…›oz picked Thai basil leaves, to serve
For the sweet chilli dressing
- 1½ tbsp white or black sesame seeds (or a mix of both)
- 120ml/4fl oz sunflower oil
- 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 3 red chillies, thinly sliced into rounds
- 2 whole star anise
- 2½ tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp finely chopped chives
Method
To make the pickled celeriac, finely shave the rind of one of the limes to get 6 strips, then juice the limes to make 4 tablespoons of juice. Combine the lime strips and juice with all the other ingredients for the pickled celeriac in a large bowl and set aside for at least 2 hours, stirring now and then while you prepare the rest of the dish. You can make this up to 3 days ahead and keep it refrigerated.
To make the roasted celeriac, preheat the oven to 170C/150C Fan/Gas 3. Rub the celeriac with oil and sea salt and then place it root-side down on a sheet of foil and wrap the foil around it to seal. Roast for about 3 hours, or until the celeriac feels tender inside when pressed. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before cutting into 8 wedges.
Turn the oven up to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 6. Place the wedges on a lined baking tray, cut side up. Brush them with any oil remaining from roasting, along with any caramelised juices. You may need to brush with a little more olive oil and a little maple syrup or honey. Roast for 20 minutes, or until golden-brown.
To make the sweet chilli dressing, dry fry the sesame seeds in a small frying pan over a medium heat until nicely toasted. Remove from the heat and set aside. Heat the sunflower oil in a small saucepan on a medium heat. Once hot, add the garlic, chillies and star anise and fry for 2–2½ minutes, or until the garlic is crisp and pale golden-brown, stirring to separate the garlic slices.
Strain through a sieve set on top of a small heatproof bowl to collect the oil. Set the fried chilli and garlic aside, to serve. Combine 40ml/1½fl oz of the aromatic oil with all the remaining ingredients for the dressing, and keep the rest to use in a different dish.
To serve, arrange the wedges on a large platter and sprinkle with a little flaked salt. Add the fried chilli and garlic to the dressing and spoon over and around the celeriac. Top with 200g/7oz of the pickled celeriac mixture, avoiding the pickling liquid, garlic and lime rind. Garnish with spring onions and Thai basil, and serve.
