When stuffed with rice & vegetables and then baked, celeriac becomes a rich appetizer or side dish.
Celeriac stuffed with mixed vegetables is a Turkish dish which takes less than an hour to fully prepare, and it is considered absolutely delicious by those who have had the good fortune to partake of it. Total preparation time is only about 15 minutes, followed by approximately 30 minutes of cooking time, so if you’re in a hurry, this is an excellent dish to prepare on short notice, and yet it will still be a pleasing delight for all your dinner guests.
A Typical Turkish Meal
Stuffed celeriac is a zeytinyagli dish (one which features olive oil), which is often served as a featured side dish right at the center of the table, so it can be continuously sampled by all guests throughout the meal, right through till dessert time. Along with the zeytinyagli dish, which is one of the recent additions to the catalog of olive oil dishes, a fine Turkish meal might consist of hummus or haydari (which is a minty-tasting yogurt dip), and maybe also sigara boregi, which is a crispy fried cheese pastry.
These excellent starter dishes, along with some form of bread, are all considered to be great beginnings for a good Turkish meal, and they are usually served as an accompaniment to favored beverages, before the main meal.
Guests at a dinner gathering could also be served a delicious bowl of soup prior to receiving the main entrée, which may or may not include some kind of meat. The main entrée would generally be accompanied by a rice dish and possibly a salad as well, with finishing touches including some kind of dessert or sliced fruit. Many Turkish meals are also offered with ‘raki’, the national alcoholic beverage which is a staple at a good many meals.
Celeriac is a perfect replacement for artichokes during the fall and winter months, and can be obtained at any Turkish marketplace.
Recipe With Vegetable Stuffing
This recipe is a variant of another very popular dish which is served in Turkey throughout the springtime, which is derived from the heart of artichokes and is then stuffed with preferred vegetables to produce a stuffed artichoke. However, whereas artichokes are in season only during the springtime, celeriac is a rooted vegetable which has a very long season of availability and can commonly be found in the marketplaces of Turkey for at least eight months out of the year.
One of the more difficult preparation steps in preparing stuffed celeriac involves cutting the heart out of the huge bulbous celeriac route, but some vendors in the marketplace will do that for you, so the most difficult step has already been done by the time you begin your preparation work.
Many Turkish people are beginning to prefer the delectable stuffed celeriac dish overstuffed artichokes because there is a considerable difference in the economics which applies to the two dishes. Whereas artichokes are considered something of a luxury, and cost about the same as a kilo of celeriac, the celeriac vegetables themselves are extremely inexpensive, and can easily be purchased by people of almost any budget type.
Cost is not the only factor though since celeriac also offers an exquisite flavor that is appreciated by all who have ever sampled it. The celeriac stalks taste a great deal like traditional celery, but the root has a much different taste and texture, having a creamy and very appealing flavor.
Ingredients Needed for Celeriac With Stuffing
To prepare your stuffed celeriac dish, you’ll need all the following ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons of dill
- 1 cup of water
- 1 can of drained peas
- 1 large carrot which has been diced
- 2 tablespoons of parsley
- 3 small to medium celeriac, with the center, hollowed out in the same way that you would hollow out an artichoke heart
- 1 large peeled potato which has been diced
- 1 finely chopped medium onion
- 1/2 teaspoon of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of washed rice
- 1 lemon which has been cut into halves
- 100 mL of olive oil
Cooking Directions
The first step in preparing your stuffed celeriac calls for hollowing out the centers of your celeriac, if it hasn’t already been done for you so that a concave shape has been formed to contain the other vegetables which will be inserted.
Rub the entire celeriac with one of the lemon halves, and if you prefer, you can also include the squeezed lemon skin in the celeriac stuffing.
In a separate bowl, mix together the parsley, carrot, peas, onion, and potato. Taking the centers which you hollowed out, chop them up, along with some of the stalks and leaves, and add them to the vegetable mix you’ve already created.
Into the vegetable mix, fold in the sugar, juice, and lemon, before again mixing thoroughly. Once you have all these ingredients well blended, you can drizzle olive oil over the entire mixture, and sprinkle the rice over each of the vegetable-filled, hollowed-out root centers.
Add a cup of water to the pan containing your celeriac, and bring this to a gentle boil, before allowing it to simmer for half an hour. There should still be a small amount of water in the bottom of the pan after 30 minutes of cooking, so the celeriac does not burn during the heating process. Just prior to serving, sprinkle the dill on top of each serving.
