Stuffed celeriac with parsnip cream recipe

• Serves 8
• 30 mins to prepare and 2 hours to cook, plus cooling
• 201 calories / serving

Ingredients

• 1 large celeriac, scrubbed
• 1 small sweet potato (roughly 120g), peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
• 2½ tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 garlic clove, finely diced
• 75g mixed nuts, roughly chopped
• ½ x 250g pack Merchant Gourmet red & white quinoa
• 10g dried cranberries
• 25g frozen cranberries
• 40g spinach leaves, roughly chopped
• kale, steamed, to serve
• thyme sprigs, to serve (optional)

For the parsnip cream

• 400g parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
• 400ml almond milk
• 1 tbsp snipped chives
• pinch grated nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Wrap a wide piece of foil around the celeriac and set it in a roasting pan. Roast for 1 hour in the oven.
2. In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the sweet potato is cooked. Drain.
3. Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. Simmer for 5 minutes with half of the onion, cumin seeds, and garlic, then add the nuts and cook for 2-3 minutes, turning constantly, until toasted and golden. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the sweet potato, quinoa, cranberries, and spinach.
4. Remove the celeriac from the oven, unwrap it, and set aside for 10 minutes to cool. Cut an 8cm-wide circle in the top of the celeriac and scoop out the center with a spoon. Score and scoop again till you're about 1cm from the bottom. Chop the celeriac that was scooped and add it to the grains mixture.
5. Return the celariac to the roasting tin's foil and spoon the grains mixture into it, stacking any excess on top and around the sides. Drizzle 1 tbsp olive oil over the celeriac, wrap in foil, and roast for 1 hour (opening the foil for the last 10 minutes of roasting) or until cooked.
6. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat the remaining olive oil and sauté the other half of the onion with the parsnips for 4 minutes. Bring to a simmer with the almond milk and 200ml water, cover, and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the parsnips are tender. Blend the parsnip mixture with a hand blender. Season with salt and pepper, then add the chives and nutmeg.
7. Serve the celeriac with the parsnip cream, cooked kale, and vegan gravy (recipe follows), as well as a few thyme sprigs on top if desired.