If cooking for vegetarians, make sure to use vegetarian cheese alternatives.
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Yields:
8 serving(s)
Prep Time:
25 mins
Cook Time:
1 hr 25 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 50 mins
Cal/Serv:
141
Ingredients
2
small-medium celeriacs (about 750g each)
250ml
hot vegetable stock
FOR THE SAUCE
25g
butter
25g
plain flour
350ml
whole milk
25g
Parmesan, or vegetarian Italian-style hard cheese, finely grated
25g
Gruyère, or vegetarian alternative, finely grated
Directions
Step 1Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5. Peel and halve the celeriacs, and place cut-side down on a board. Working with one 1/2 at a time, make slices across the width of the celeriac, about 5mm apart. You want to slice deep into the celeriac, but not all the way through.
Step 2Put the celeriac halves into an ovenproof serving dish in which they fit snugly (flat-side down). Pour over the stock, cover with foil and cook for 45min, or until the celeriacs are beginning to soften.
Step 3Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Mix in the flour and cook, stirring, for 3min. Remove pan from heat and gradually mix in the milk to make a smooth sauce.
Step 4Return to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer for 1min, until very thick. Stir in most of the cheeses and some seasoning.
Step 5Carefully remove the dish from the oven and empty the cooking stock into a jug (you need 100ml, discard the rest). Mix the measured stock into the cheese sauce, then pour the sauce around the celeriac halves. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
Step 6Return to the oven for 40min, or until golden and bubbling.
GET AHEAD Prepare to end of step 5 up to a day ahead. Cool, cover and chill. Complete recipe to serve.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
