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    Home » Garden

    Whole Roasted Celeriac Steak Baked in a Crust

    Published: Feb 25, 2023 Modified: Apr 19, 2023 Author: Alan Bergo

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video

    Tender and meaty with a concentrated celery flavor, slow-roasted vegetarian steaks basted with butter, garlic and herbs is one of the most creative things you can make with celeriac. This is an elegant way to honor root vegetables, but also allows chefs to skip peeling celery root and serve it at a higher price.

    roasted celeriac steaks in a carbon steel pan

    A Chef Recipe for Celery Root

    Celery root steaks were popularized by Chef Yotam Ottolenghi, but chefs have been serving vegetables as a meat substitute for years in vegetarian and vegan recipes.

    This technique was taught to me by a chef who worked for Charlie Trotter and Dan Barber, and I suspect one of them taught it to him. We would use the method on different root vegetables in the Winter.

    whole celery root baked in a pastry crust

    Why it Works

    Roasting celeriac whole wrapped in a pastry crust with herbs steams the root in its skin, concentrating the celery root taste. This is a very old technique, similar to cooking meat wrapped in clay.

    sliced, cooked celery root
    After steaming, the celery root skin is supple and tender.

    Slow roasting saves on prep time as the celery root doesn't need to be peeled before cooking. People often ask me how to peel celery root, and they're surprised when I say it isn't always necessary. The outer skin becomes tender and adds a special contrast to the flesh.

    How to Make Roasted Celeriac Steak

    You make a simple dough, adding fresh herbs and salt. The whole knob celery is wrapped in the dough and baked in a slow oven until tender.

    celery root wrapped in pastry dough
    Cooked celery root in a pastry crust in a carbon steel pan
    removing celeriac steak from a pastry crust
    Wrap a whole celery root in pastry and bake until tender. Removing it from the crust is exciting.

    The crust is discarded and the root is cut into thick slices. When it's time to serve you cook the roots golden brown, basting with butter, garlic and herbs like a piece of meat.

    Sliced, roasted celery root
    Cooking celery root slices in a carbon steel pan
    cooking celery root under a weight in a carbon steel pan
    Basting celery root steaks with herbs and garlic
    Cut the celeriac into thick slices, brown in a pan and baste with garlic and herbs. Use a bacon press for the best color.

    What to Serve with Celeriac Steak

    Serve with some kind of acidic, herby sauce or compound butter like Cafe de Paris. I used my ramp leaf salsa verde, made with basil, tarragon and an egg yolk. For simple home cooking, serve them with mashed potatoes and gravy or garlic-lemon aioli like celeriac remoulade.

    celeriac steak on a plate with herb sauce
    With wilted greens and a nice, herby sauce.

    In the Winter, I might serve them with a buttery puree of canned tomatoes. Celery root piccata with lemon caper sauce is good too. Like other recipes for vegetable steaks they pair well with mushrooms.

    cooked celery root with truffle butter and truffles
    They love compound butter.

    Celeriac Substitute

    You can substitute parsnips in recipes like celery root soup. For steaks, you'll need to use other hard root vegetables like rutabagas or beets. If you can find some, parsley root is the best substitute for celery root's taste.

    celeriac steak cooking in a pan with herbs and garlic
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    5 from 12 votes

    Whole Roasted Celeriac Steak

    Rich, tender celery root baked in a crust of herbs, cut into thick steaks and fried golden brown.
    Prep Time20 minutes mins
    Cook Time2 hours hrs 45 minutes mins
    Total Time3 hours hrs 5 minutes mins
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Celeriac, Vegetarian Steak
    Servings: 4 Servings
    Calories: 346kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo
    Cost: 10

    Equipment

    • Rolling Pin
    • Large non-stick skillet or frying pan

    Ingredients

    • 1 large celery root about 1 lb

    Pastry Crust

    • 3 Tablespoons cold water
    • 1 Tablespoon cooking oil
    • 2 teaspoon fine salt
    • 1 cup flour
    • ¼ cup chopped herbs like rosemary, sage and thyme
    • 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

    Serving (optional)

    • 1 tablespoon cooking oil or light olive oil
    • 4 tablespoon unsalted butter
    • 2 large cloves garlic
    • 1 medium shallot chopped
    • Handful of fresh thyme sprigs

    Instructions

    Herb Pastry

    • In a stand mixer, combine the water and salt and stir to combine. Add the flour and herbs and mix with the paddle attachment until a soft dough forms. Wrap the dough in cling film and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.
    • Preheat the oven to 400 F.

    Wash and roast the celeriac

    • Inspect the celery root for any dirt, wash with warm water and dry. Most celery roots from the grocery store will be very clean.
    • Roll the dough out into a thin sheet ¼ inch thick. Wrap the celery root in the dough, covering the entire surface. Patch any holes with extra dough.
    • Put the celery root on a baking tray (or a cast iron skillet) and bake for 15 minutes, then turn the heat to 300 and cook for 2-2.5 hours, or until the root is tender when pierced with a cake tester.

    Remove the pastry crust

    • Remove the celery root from the oven, cool and remove the crust and discard. From here the celery root can be made ahead of time and reheated for a quick meal.

    Serving

    • Cut the celeriac into thick, 1 inch steaks.
    • Heat the cooking oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Season the steaks lightly with salt and pepper and put steak in the pan. You can use a bacon press to help them brown evenly.
    • Cook the steaks until golden brown on one side. When you flip them, add the butter, garlic, shallot and thyme. Baste the steaks with the melted, foaming butter for a few minutes until the house smells delicious. Remove the steaks to a warmed dish and serve with your choice of sauces and accompaniments.

    Video

    Notes

    Serve with a bright, herby sauce. I used my Ramp Leaf Salsa Verde, substituting fresh herbs and an egg yolk. Chimmichurri and tomatillo salsa can work too.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 4oz | Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 30mg | Sodium: 200mg | Potassium: 531mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 350IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 3mg

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Timothy Baxendale

      August 23, 2024 at 3:34 pm

      This recipe is quite good and I found that adding the left over pastry to my bag of bread scraps make a really good bread pudding - the rosemary bursts you get made the pudding a great sweet/savory and helped avoid the cloying aspect of sweet only.

      So now I'm hoping if you could expand more on coating meat in pastry / clay to cook it - my mind says that since this forms a sturdy crust, a browned lamb shank with seasonings could slow roast inside and come out good - but searching meat+pastry seems to generally point to beef wellingtons or fully roasting the shanks then at the last minute wrap in pastry and bake the pastry golden. Seeing how you might do it with clay would be cool too, but I don't readily have clay available. (I assume most sturdy root vegetables could get the same pastry treatment without problem)

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        August 23, 2024 at 3:38 pm

        Hello. Any slow cooking cut of meat can be prepared this way. It was likely done with lamb and goat in the Mediterranean long before it was done with beef.

        Reply
    2. Timothy

      January 27, 2024 at 5:39 pm

      5 stars
      Besides just being a fairly plain pastry crust, there's no reason not to eat it or incorporate it as a thickener for soups, or into an everything goes bread pudding right? It's just not meant to be the star of the show.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        January 29, 2024 at 9:58 am

        It is too salty to eat like that IMO. As some people have mentioned aluminum foil makes a decent substitute. I like to include traditional methods when I can though.

        Reply
        • Timothy Baxendale

          September 04, 2024 at 8:27 pm

          Note to the world - try your crust. You might like it (I did). (an easy way to make a bit less salty is to measure the same volume of salt but use Kosher or Flakey Sea Salt - lower volumetric density so you reduce saltiness some).

          Reply
          • Alan Bergo

            September 04, 2024 at 9:17 pm

            Hey Timothy, that’s been mentioned a few times so I think I need to make it again this fall. The original recipe actually had more salt. I think if it’s tasting decent you could cut the salt way down, using the same proportions for a savory crust and just hit the celeriac with a pinch of salt after it’s sliced and cooked, like a steak. Cool idea. Thanks for commenting!!

            Reply
    3. Paolo

      April 19, 2023 at 6:45 pm

      I've made this recipe a few times and love it. I've had to make an adjustment to the dough. You list 1 cup (120g) of flour, 2 tablespoons (30g) of water, and a tablespoon of oil (15g), which is about 38% hydration. I know a lot depends on the flour. When I bump the hydration up to 55% I find it easier to work with. I'm wondering if there's a typo in your recipe.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        April 19, 2023 at 6:49 pm

        Hey thanks for catching that Paolo. It was supposed to be 3 T/45 g-so you're right on the money there.

        Reply
    4. Isabella

      March 14, 2023 at 6:31 pm

      5 stars
      Wish I could give this more stars. Absolutely delicious. At first I was skeptical about eating the skin but, it might actually be one of the best parts. Can't wait to make this again. Thank you for this recipe.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        March 14, 2023 at 7:07 pm

        Thanks Isabella. And I agree, the skin is so much fun.

        Reply
    5. Catherine Vitale

      March 06, 2023 at 2:10 pm

      5 stars
      So. Good. Thank you!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        March 06, 2023 at 3:00 pm

        Thanks Catherine, glad it worked for you.

        Reply
    6. Joe Wiercinski

      February 27, 2023 at 6:44 am

      Thanks for giving me another reason to order celeriac seeds from Johnny's or growitalian for the coming gardening season. I'm gobsmacked to learn that the skin is edible and tasty. I'm beyond pleased to see how simple it is to coat-steambake-saute celery roots. I found one bigger than a softball at a nearby Italian grocery and now I know how I'm going to enjoy it. Cheers.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        February 27, 2023 at 2:46 pm

        Thanks Joe, just remember your home-grown celery root will need a thorough cleaning compared to the ones from a grocery store that are pressure-washed and usually very clean.

        Reply
    7. Eben Lenderking

      February 26, 2023 at 3:32 am

      5 stars
      Great post. I just shot something similar to this for my upcoming book...only we used a crust that was salt and wood-ash based...though I also use a pastry crust blend with it to keep the skin edible and without grit. Love the no peel benefits, and I imagine the nutritious quality goes up. I quite like it with the Yotam spicy Maitre de Paris sauce, a curry, or my favourite is a vermouth-driven, juniper-laced sauce with anchovies...Will have to try your version with mushrooms. Can't wait.

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        February 27, 2023 at 2:49 pm

        Thanks Eben. Yes, I've done the salt-roasting a few times. It was really hard for me to get the roots to not be inedibly salty. I really like the sound of juniper and anchovies too.

        Reply
      • Emily

        December 08, 2023 at 10:27 am

        5 stars
        Interesting recipe, especially the thing about not peeling! Could I replace the pastry cover with some tin foil with herbs tucked inside?

        Reply
        • Alan Bergo

          December 08, 2023 at 3:21 pm

          Yes that'll probably work.

          Reply
    8. gavin

      February 25, 2023 at 7:08 pm

      5 stars
      Still have so much leftover celeriac, so I'm excited to give this a try!

      Reply
      • Alan Bergo

        February 27, 2023 at 2:49 pm

        I'm here if you have any questions.

        Reply
    5 from 12 votes (6 ratings without comment)

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