A delicious Turkish celeriac recipe for you: Portakallı zeytinyağlı kereviz yemeği. This is gently braised celeriac in olive oil and orange juice.
And stick with us on this one. We regularly order it in the restaurants around Fethiye when we see it. It is that good – a treat for the taste buds!
Celebrating Celeriac Season
We’re in one of our favourite times of year for seasonal eating – it’s autumn, going on winter, and the stalls of the local markets are brimming with hardy greens, robust root vegetables (celeriac is also called celery root) and vibrantly coloured citrus fruits.
It’s oft said that seasonal foods compliment each other in various dishes. And pairing up seasonal celeriac with refreshing citrus works perfectly.
Meze Or Main?
In Turkish cuisine, there are numerous zeytinyağlı dishes – a Turkish method of cooking vegetables in olive oil – and many of these are enjoyed either as a meze plate alongside other meze dishes, as a side dish or even as a main dish.
Enjoying them at room temperature is the way forward.
They’re great vegetarian and vegan dishes and this Turkish braised celeriac in olive oil and orange juice is one of those zeytinyağlı dishes that is all of the above.
You often see it in the meze display fridges of seafood restaurants – the textures and flavours pairing really well with light seafood meze like seabass and mixed seafood salads.
If we see it, we order it!
And you also often see celeriac in olive oil and orange juice in the bain marie of local Turkish lokantas.
Again, if we see it, we order it.
Here, we shared two main dishes – the zeytinyağlı kereviz yemeği and the köfte yemeği – and had the orzo pilaf as a side.
Healthy Ingredients
It might not be one of the prettiest looking root vegetables out there, but aside from it being delicious, whilst we’re enjoying eating it, we’re also putting lots of lovely nutrients into our body, too. Bonus.
As we always say in articles like this, we’re not nutritionists so we’ll leave that to the people who are.
Celeriac is a member of the carrot family – another of the ingredients in our olive oil dish.
And then, of course, we have the olive oil, potato…and all that lovely fresh citrus in the form of lemon and orange juice.
And this is typical of the Turkish zeytinyağlı group of dishes – they’re all just really good for us whilst being packed with seasonal flavours.
How To Make Turkish Celeriac In Olive Oil & Orange Juice – Top Tips
As with all Turkish zeytinyağlı (olive oil) dishes, celeriac in olive oil and orange juice is an easy, one pot dish.
Use a heavy pan with a lid.
But there are a few tips for getting the best version.
Your Celeriac – Kereviz
Your main ingredient.
If your celeriac still has the green stalks and leaves sprouting from the top of the celeriac root, cut these off but don’t discard them.
They’re great in soups and salads and karışık turşu (Turkish pickled vegetables).
You can even add a handful of the chopped leaves to the pan when you start to cook your dish.
Celeriac is one of those root vegetables that will start to discolour quite soon after you peel it.
To prevent this happening, get a large bowl of water and add a good squeeze of lemon juice to it.
Peel your large celeriac with a vegetable peeler and chop it up. Add your celeriac chunks to the lemon water as you go so that they keep their crisp white colour.
You can then use a splash of this lemon water when you are ready to start cooking.
Your Olive Oil – Zeytinyağı
As this is an olive oil dish, don’t be shy with it. A good three tablespoonfuls of good quality olive oil.
Don’t worry, your final dish won’t taste greasy or even oily.
The result is a smooth sauce, full of the flavours of the rest of the ingredients in your pan.
Your Orange Juice – Portakal
Turkish olive oil dishes are about celebrating seasonal produce.
As we’re cooking celeriac in olive oil and orange juice, try to use seasonal fresh oranges if possible.
We love a citrusy orange flavour so we use the juice of three oranges (approximately 250 millilitres) but you can use more of the lemon water if you like.
And, as you can see, on our local market in the Fethiye winter, one of our other ingredients – the carrot – is sold on the same stall as our oranges.
Seasonal pairings for a seasonal dish.
Celeriac In Olive Oil & Orange Juice Recipe – Portakallı Zeytinyağlı Kereviz Yemeği
Okay, let’s get prepping and cooking…
And if you love this celeriac in olive oil and orange juice, give our other Turkish zeytinyağlı recipes a try: barbunya pilaki, fresh green beans in olive oil and okra in olive oil.
All delicious, healthy dishes. And, of course, seasonal.
Braised Celeriac In Olive Oil & Orange Juice
Equipment
- 1 sharp knife
- 1 vegetable peeler
- 1 large saucepan
- 1 large bowl
- 1 slotted spoon
Ingredients
- 1 large celeriac (stalks & leaves removed)
- 1 medium onion (peeled & finely chopped)
- 1 medium potato (peeled & cut into rough 2-3 centimetre cubes)
- 1 large carrot (peeled, sliced down the middle & cut into rough 1 centimetre chunks)
- 3 large oranges (juice of)
- 1 large lemon (juice of)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil (good quality)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill (roughly chopped)
Instructions
- First of all, pour cold water into your large bowl, add your fresh lemon juice and mix it together.
- Take your celeriac and remove the stalks and leaves. These can be used in other dishes.
- Peel the celeriac with your vegetable peeler and use your sharp knife to cut it up into rough 2-3 centimetre chunks, adding the chunks to the lemon water as you go.
- Now add your olive oil and onion to the pan and saute gently for a few minutes on a medium to low heat until they start to go translucent.
- Add your potato and carrot to the onions and oil and mix together.
- Now, with a slotted spoon, remove your celeriac chunks from the lemon water and add them to the pan.
- Stir everything together and leave them to gently heat through for 5 minutes.
- Now add your orange juice and stir that in.
- Turn the heat to high and add enough of the lemon water until the liquid just covers your celeriac and other vegetables.
- Give everything a stir, bring to the boil and then cover with a lid before returning the heat to low.
- Leave your celeriac to simmer and braise for 30 minutes.
- Now check that your vegetables are soft. Don't let them get too soft that they start to go mushy.
- When your vegetables have softened, remove from the heat and pour everything into a shallow serving bowl to cool to room temperature.
- Sprinkle your chopped dill over the top before serving.
Notes
- As with all of our recipes, nutrition facts are calculated by a 3rd party API. If you have specific dietary requirements, please do your own due diligence.
- This celeriac in olive oil and orange juice recipe will give you approximately 6 servings, depending on how you’re using it.
- It will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
- Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.
- We love the orange flavours in this recipe. If you want a more subtle orange flavour, use 1 less orange and more of the lemon water.
Nutrition
Afiyet Olsun!