Creamy Roasted Celeriac Puree

This roasted celeriac puree has a creamy and luscious texture due to the celery root being roasted instead of boiled. This makes a supremely rich puree with a sweet, earthy flavor.

Celeriac is a really underrated root vegetable. When boiled, it gets a bit water logged and can make for a somewhat soggy mash. But the key to bring out it's best qualities is to roast it instead of boiling.

If you roast celeriac instead of boiling, the texture and flavor are concentrated, producing a supremely creamy and luscious puree that rivals even the preeminence of mashed potatoes.

Besides the textural boost, roasting celeriac to make puree also brings out deeper and more complex flavor notes. In this recipe the celeriac is sliced, drizzled with oil and roasted.

This promotes varying degrees of browning in different parts of the celery root (darker at the edges and less in the middle) which also introduces different degrees of caramelized flavor.

All of this contributes to really complex and nuanced flavor development in the puree, which happens to be perfectly complemented by roasted garlic.

The addition of potatoes and parsnip is to provide a heartier texture and more varied flavor. You can also make the puree with just celery root by substituting another celery root for the potatoes and parsnip.

Quick Summary

• Peel all the vegetables - slice the celeriac.
• Wrap the parsnip and potatoes in foil, leave the garlic cloves unpeeled.
• Roast the vegetables on a baking sheet for about 40 minutes until they're all fork tender.
• Puree everything in a food processor with butter and milk until a creamy puree forms - add more salt as necessary.
• Serve hot with butter and black pepper.

Jump to:

• Quick Summary
• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Instructions
• Serving Suggestion
• Related
• Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

• Celeriac: Celeriac, also known as celery root or knob celery, has a sweet vegetal flavor and somewhat spongy texture. The outside can be quite uneven so it's best to peel it. When roasted, it takes on a deeper more caramelized flavor.
• Potatoes: Potatoes add a bit more density to the puree.
• Parsnip: Parsnip brings in a different layer of vegetal sweetness.
• Garlic cloves: Since we're already roasting other vegetables, it's easy to include some whole unpeeled garlic cloves which will roast in their peels and soften into creamy roasted garlic. This adds nice flavor and also contributes creaminess to the puree.
• Olive oil: The olive oil is used to roast the garlic and celeriac so they brown nicely.
• Butter: Butter adds flavor and helps the creaminess of the puree to form.
• Milk: Milk is the moisture element that helps the vegetables smooth out into a puree. Depending on the thickness desired, you may need to add more milk.
• Salt: Since there's a lot of vegetal sweetness happening in this dish, you'll need a decent amount of salt to counteract the sweet and balance the flavors. Be sure to taste after pureeing and add more salt according to your own palate.
• Fresh cracked black pepper: Fresh cracked black pepper makes a really nice garlic on this puree because it adds a flavor counterpoint while also making for a nicer presentation.

Equipment

Baking sheet: You'll need a large baking sheet to roast all the vegetables before pureeing.

Aluminum foil: Foil is helpful for wrapping the parsnip and potatoes so they soften at the same rate as the celeriac.

Food processor: You'll need a food processor to blend up the vegetables to make a puree. You can also use a food mill if that's what you have.

Instructions

Since you'll be roasting the vegetables, start by preheating your oven to 160 C / 320 F.

Peel and rinse the celeriac, parsnip and potatoes. Wrap the potatoes and parsnip in aluminum foil and place on your baking tray.

Cut the celeriac into thin slices. Lay the celeriac and garlic cloves beside the foil packet. Drizzle the celeriac and garlic with olive oil - make sure each clove is well coated.

The vegetables will need to roast for about 40 minutes. Check them with a fork - once they're all fork tender, they are ready.

While the vegetables are still warm from the oven, add them add to the bowl of your food processor along with the butter and seasonings. Squeeze each garlic cloves out of it's peel and into the bowl.

Blend everything up in the food processor until smooth. Drizzle in the milk a bit at a time until the puree has a smooth texture.

Taste and adjust seasoning - the vegetables are quite sweet so you may need more salt.

Serving Suggestion

This celeriac puree is best serve hot. Garnished with fresh cracked black pepper and more butter for extra pizzazz.

Celeriac puree is a perfect complement to rich meat dishes like Braised Turkey in White Wine Sauce or Crispy Parmesan & Herb Chicken Quarters.

I really love a mash served with crunchy fried chicken so one of my favourite combinations is this sweet, earthy and creamy celeriac puree combined with super crunchy oat crusted chicken schnitzel.

Add a pickle for an acidic counterpoint and it's a perfect meal in my books!

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