Celeriac steak recipe with brown butter and hazelnuts

A whole celeriac, cut into thick steaks and seared until the outside turns dark gold, holds its own against meat once brown butter and hazelnuts go to work on it.

Celeriac spends most of the year in soups and mash, which hides its best quality: a dense core that sears like a cut of meat once it has been blanched. Amuse Kitchen built this recipe to get the vegetable off the back burner for the coldest months of the year.

Ingredients

Blanch first, then sear: the core cooks gently so the crust can take all the heat.

• 2 large celeriac (about 600g each)
• 60g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 40g hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 20g chives, chopped
• Sea salt and black pepper

Method

1. Peel the celeriac and slice each one into two thick steaks through the equator, about 3cm deep, for four steaks in total. Trim the rounded edges flat so each piece sits squarely in the pan, which keeps the whole surface in contact with the heat rather than rocking on a curve.
2. Blanch the steaks in well-salted boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes, until a knife meets some resistance at the centre. This cooks the inside gently before the pan takes over, so the core is tender by the time the crust is done rather than still raw underneath it.
3. Drain and pat the steaks dry with a cloth. Any surface water left on the celeriac will turn to steam in the hot pan and stop a crust from forming.
4. Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium-high heat. Sear the steaks for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, undisturbed, until a deep golden crust forms.
5. Add the butter, thyme and garlic to the pan. Tilt the pan and spoon the foaming butter over the steaks continuously for 2 to 3 minutes, until it turns a nutty brown. Basting carries the flavour of the browning milk solids onto the vegetable while keeping the heat even enough that the butter doesn't burn.
6. Lift the steaks onto a warm plate and rest for 5 minutes. Resting lets the residual heat even out through the core instead of leaving a hotter edge and a cooler middle.
7. Off the heat, stir the sherry vinegar and honey into the pan, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. The vinegar's acidity cuts through the richness of the brown butter rather than leaving the dish heavy.
8. Plate the steaks, spoon the glaze over them, and scatter with hazelnuts and chives.

Serve it like a steak, not a side

Treat the celeriac steak as the main event: a sharp apple and celery leaf salad on the side does the job a steak frites would, cutting through the butter without competing with it. For a vegan version, swap the butter for more olive oil and the honey for maple syrup; the sear and the basting still work the same way.

Leftover steaks reheat well in a dry pan over low heat, which recrisps the crust without drying out the core, and are good cold, sliced thin, over the kind of pumpkin and chestnut velouté that suits the same cold week.

Can I prepare the celeriac ahead of time? Blanch the steaks up to a day ahead and keep them chilled; they only need the sear and the butter baste just before serving.