Wondering what this strange creature is?

Well, it’s not a creature at all! It’s a vegetable. Celeriac. Very good for you, as all vegetables are. With many health benefits such as boosting your immune system and your digestive system, benefits that can be read about here.

But what can I do with it?

So, I picked one of these bad boys up from my local supermarket. I hadn’t a clue what to do with it, it just looked very interesting. My son-in-law had told me about a recipe he’d seen on BBC Maestro YouTube channel. It was Marco Pierre-white (the slightly scary, three Michelin star award winning chef) cooking a vegetable lasagne, video here. But instead of using the usual pasta sheets he used celeriac.

In an almost hypnotic voice he gives you a step-by-step instructions for this recipe. I wanted to try it. So, after watching the video, I was captivated! I did my own version, and it didn’t turn out half bad either. Here’s how I did it…

Delicious Celeriac Lasagne Ingredients:

For the ragu

Two Tbsp olive oil

One Celeriac

Two sticks of celery, sliced

Three medium carrots, diced

Half a cauliflower, diced

Four cloves of garlic

One medium leek, sliced

500g passata

One Tbsp dry thyme

One Tbsp dry basil

For the white sauce

425mls (15 fl oz of milk ( or vegan milk)

20 grams (1 ½ oz) of plain flour

40 grams (3 ¼ oz) of soft cheese spread(or vegan cheese spread)

A palm full of grated cheese (I used Cathedral City plant based block as it melts quite nicely)

Extra grated cheese for the top

Method

Using a large pan, fry the leek and garlic in the olive oil, on a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Then add the rest of the vegetables and continue to fry on a medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes, until soft.

Add the passata, thyme and basil and continue to simmer on a lower setting for a further ten minutes, stirring frequently.

This can be done the day before for convenience, but it also seems to thicken and add more flavour to the ragu.

Preparing the celeriac

Top, tail and cut the rough bits off the celeriac. Slice thinly. Put the slices on a greaseproof paper covered baking tray, on 200 °C for 30 – 40 minutes, until soft.

To make the white sauce

In a small pan, heat all of the ingredients, on a medium to high heat, stirring all the time. This prevents the ingredients from burning. After a couple of minutes, the liquid should thicken. When it just starts to bubble take it off the heat.

Assembling the lasagne.

Use a large and deep baking tray. Layer first the ragu mixture, cover with slices of cooked celeriac (cover in as many holes as you can, but it doesn’t need to be perfect!) Then, smooth over half of the white sauce. Do this twice for two layers. Top with your grated cheese of choice. Obviously I’m vegan so I use plant-based Cathedral City as it’s perfect for melting.

Top with a sprinkling of dried Italian herbs (optional)

Cook in the oven 200 °C for 30-35 minutes, until slightly golden and the cheese bubbles.

And in true Blue Peter style…

Here’s two I made earlier.

I made two, one vegan one for me and one vegetarian for my ‘I just can’t give up real cheese’ husband.

Now I haven’t got three Michelin stars, and I’m certainly not as talented as Marco in the kitchen, but this effort didn’t taste too bad.

It was simple, easy to prepare, and fairly quick to do. Well worth the effort.

All Kudos and inspiration from Marco himself! Thanks Marco.

I’d done enough so we could have another portion another night (see my tip on batch cooking here.)

Would you believe this celeriac lasagne was even more delicious the second night! Yum yum

The added bonus is that you can easily make this recipe gluten free. You can easily swap in gluten free flour when making the white sauce.

I served it up with a simple rocket and spinach salad and herby bread.

Simple but tasty!