Celery
Apium graveolens var. rapaceum
Celery is a wonderfully versatile veg and a bit of an unsung hero in the kitchen. Chop raw for crudités, slice for salads, use in stir-fries, or as a base for soups, stews and stocks. With a few of these crunchy, flavourful stalks, the kitchen’s your oyster.
In the kitchen
How to store Celery
Store in the fridge and it should keep well for a week. Will keep for two weeks if just being used in stocks, stews and sauces.
Prep & Cooking tips
Just cut the ribs away from the root as and when you need one. Wash and slice to your needs. The inner ribs are more tender and sweet. The outer ribs and root end are best for the cooking pot. The leaves can be saved to add to salads and slaws or chopped as a garnish.
Often eaten raw as a crudité or sliced into a salad. Celery can be cooked and braised as a veg on its own but is more often part of a mirepoix/soffritto - the mix of onions, carrots and celery that form the base of many a stock, ragú or soup. An oft unsung workhorse of the kitchen.
Easy ideas
1. Raw
Well, obviously… But there is a lot more to it than a crudité. Try a Waldorf inspired salad of diced celery, apple and walnuts. Throw some angled slices into a winter slaw with some carrot, fennel, red cabbage and shallots. Never forget the simple charm of a cold celery stick dipped in a little flaked sea salt or with crumbs of sharp cheddar. The tender central stalks are best for uncooked consumption.
2. Braised
Cook it in large pieces with some butter, white wine and light stock until tender and giving, about 40 mins; delicious as a side. You’ll get the same effect by using it as a trivet for sitting a roasting joint on: it will soak up all the roasting juices, serve it rather than discarding. Braised celery is also good baked with a little cream, parmesan and breadcrumbs as a gratin.
3. Soup
So often the base, but rarely the star. Celery soup is simple and comforting. Finely dice it and sweat it down with some onion, garlic and simmer in good stock. Liquidise well to remove any stringiness. Finish with a little cream if you care to, maybe some finely diced apple to garnish.
Goes well with
Cheese (Blue cheese, Cheddar, Brie)
Nuts (Hazelnuts, Walnuts)
Herbs (particularly tarragon and parsley)
Apple
Bacon and ham
Carrot
Chicken
Cream
Grapes
Mayonnaise
Onion
Salad leaves
Tomato
Celery recipes
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Braised celery
Serves: 2 Total time: 40 min
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Pork escalopes and braised celery
Serves: 2 Total time: 55 min
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Celery salsa
Serves: 3 Total time: 20 min
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Bloody orange Mary
Serves: 1 Total time: 5 min
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Purple mary
Serves: 12 Total time: 1h 15 min
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Grilled leek and blue cheese salad with apples, celery and hazelnuts
Serves: 4 Total time: 25 min
UK seasonality
Celery varieties
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Celeriac
This ugly duckling of a winter root, is actually a type of celery cultivated for its root instead of its stalk. It is prized for its smoky, earthy fragrance and taste.
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Celery
Celery stalk is a wonderfully versatile veg and we think a bit of an unsung hero in the kitchen.
