Celeriac is a knobbly root closely related to celery, and has a wonderful flavor; a mix of aniseed, celery and parsley, and perhaps with the meaty bite of mushrooms. In Turkey, we like to poach the chunks of celeriac in olive oil & lemon sauce, with carrots, potatoes, onions and peas. This kind of cooking, called “Vegetables cooked in olive oil” or “Zeytinyaglis”, are very healthy and delicious.
I love this easy style of cooking and that you can prepare ahead of time. This lovely dish can accompany to fish, meat or and other vegetable courses, also it can be a wonderful starter. The lemon & olive oil sauce adds a wonderful, refreshing taste to celeriac. You can enjoy this course cold, at room temperature or slightly warm.
Celeriac. carrots and peas cooked in olive oil, with lemon and dill; Zeytinyagli Kereviz
Serves 2-4
Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 35 minutes
2-3 small celeriacs, peeled and cut into small chunks
30ml/2 tablespoons peas, fresh or frozen
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
1 small potato, peeled and diced
5 small shallots, peeled or 1 small onion, chopped
120ml/4 tablespoons olive oil
8 fl oz/1 cup water
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and sugar to taste
Fresh dill to garnish
To prevent discoloration during the preparation, keep the raw celeriac in a bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon juice. Cut each one into small chunks.
Cook the peas separately until tender and put to one side.
Drain the celeriac chunks and place in a heavy pan together with the other prepared vegetables. Add the olive oil, water, a little sugar (perhaps 1/2 teaspoon), season with salt. Give them all a good stir, cover and cook on a low to medium heat for about 25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the cooked peas and the juice of lemon, combine well. Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed.
Finally, add a little chopped dill, heat through and then remove from heat. Set aside to cool.
Serve the celeriac with vegetables warm at room temperature, with a little garnish of dill over and a wedge of lemon by the side.
Afiyet Olsun,
Ozlem
Hi Özlem! I love kereviz but haven't bought any yet this season. Can you find them where you are? I don't remember seeing them in Camberley Tesco!! Your photo is excellent, BTW. x
I've got some celeriac in the garden just waiting to be harvested (although I admit they're not very big) and this looks like a good way to eat them. I really like the use of dill to enhance the dish. I love the colours of autumn at Wisley – but then I'm lucky enough to live very near the gardens.
I like this dish very much! I love celeriac and have it in the garden as here very and to find and not very popular
I can't believe I've never come across this olive oil dish before. Not seen any kereviz on Fethiye market yet but will definitely try this when it does appear. (Looks like you're enjoying some great temps in England by they way.)
Dear All:)
Merhaba and many thanks for the comments!
Claudia; I got the celeriac from my veg box the other day though I saw at Sainsburys too, good news:)
Phil; you are right, the dill really goes well with the celeriac and the lemony sauce, hope you give it a try
Dzoli and Julia; many thanks for the comments, yes, the weather has been very kind so far and autumn colors are amazing:)
afiyet olsun to you all:)
Ozlem