Anne Morgan For a dinner party, the Delia Smith celeriac and potato mash recipe is her Purée of Potato and Celeriac, enough for 8. You simmer celeriac and potatoes with a clove of garlic each, then whisk them with butter and cream until smooth. The whole purée is ready in 30 minutes, and it keeps warm for a couple of hours.
Her Vegetarian Collection (2002) has the recipe, and her Christmas book prints it again with garlic in the name. She calls it a beautiful combination of flavours, and it sits in the Simply Vegetables chapter of the first book.
In that Christmas book she serves it with braised venison and with venison sausages. Both have plenty of sauce, which suits a soft purée like this one.
For plain mash, her mashed potato recipe steams the potatoes instead.
Delia Smith’s Celeriac and Potato Mash
Course: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy8
servings15
minutes15
minutes225
kcalCeleriac and potatoes simmered with garlic, then whisked with butter and double cream into a smooth, pale purée.
Ingredients
- For the purée:
900g (2lb) celeriac
450g (1lb) potatoes
2 fat cloves garlic, peeled
50g (2oz) butter
150ml (5fl oz) double cream or crème fraîche
salt and freshly milled black pepper
a large heatproof mixing bowl and an electric hand whisk
Directions
- Celeriac: Have a bowl of cold water ready. Peel the celeriac thickly with a knife, cut it into cubes of about 2cm and drop them into the water, so they don’t brown.
- Potatoes: Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2.5cm cubes, slightly larger than the celeriac.
- Simmer: Put the celeriac and the potatoes in separate saucepans, with 1 garlic clove in each. Pour over enough boiling water just to cover, add salt and simmer them for about 10 minutes, until tender.
- Whisk: Drain each pan in a colander, then put the vegetables together in the large heatproof bowl. Add the butter, cream or crème fraîche and some pepper, then whisk on a slow speed to break them up.
- Smooth: Turn the whisk to fast and whisk until smooth. Taste and season.
- Keep warm: To hold it, stand the bowl in a roasting tin half-filled with barely simmering water until your guests arrive.
Notes
- The garlic cloves go into the bowl with the vegetables and whisk smoothly into the purée.
FAQs
How do I prepare celeriac?
Peel it thickly with a knife, as Delia does, because the skin is tough and knobbly, my own note. Then chop it into roughly 2cm pieces.
Keep the pieces in cold water while you prepare the potatoes, which stops them turning brown.
Why cook the celeriac and potatoes separately?
That is Delia’s method, with a garlic clove in each pan. She cuts the potatoes a little larger than the celeriac, at 2.5cm.
Separate pans let you check each one and drain it as soon as it is cooked, my own view.
Can I keep celeriac mash warm for guests?
Yes, for up to a couple of hours, Delia says, and when she tested it there were no ill-effects at all. Keep it warm in the bowl over a tin of hot water, as in the last step.
She made it ahead because nobody wants to be mashing potatoes just as the guests arrive. That frees the hob for the rest of the meal, so it suits a dinner party well.
Cream or crème fraîche?
Either works, Delia says. Double cream is milder, and crème fraîche adds a slight tang, my own view.
Her Christmas book uses 1kg celeriac with the same 450g potatoes, if you like a stronger celeriac flavour.
How do I stop it going watery?
Drain each vegetable well in its colander, as Delia does, before they go into the bowl. Celeriac holds more water than potato, so give it a good shake, my own tip.
Then whisk straight away, while the vegetables are hot, so the butter and cream melt in quickly.
Can I make it for 4?
Yes, halve everything: 450g celeriac, 225g potatoes, 25g butter and 75ml cream, my own amounts. Put the single garlic clove in with the potatoes.
The simmering time stays at about 10 minutes.
Which potatoes should I use?
For her plain mash, Delia uses Desirée or King Edward potatoes, so either suits this purée too, my own view. Keep them in 2.5cm chunks, so they cook in the same time as the smaller celeriac pieces.
Whisk them hot, with the electric hand whisk on slow and then fast. In her Winter Collection she says that if you have an electric hand whisk, mash “really couldn’t be easier”.
