Whole roasted celeriac adapted from Jamie Oliver's Zombie Brain recipe in Save with Jamie. This time with a curried yogurt sauce.
If you're getting ready for Halloween and are looking for a healthy savoury main meal then this is the recipe for you. My whole roasted celeriac doesn't look pretty. In fact, it looks rather ugly. So ugly that you could even call it Zombie Brain!
This Halloween recipe would be perfect if you're looking for a real showstopper of a recipe. Roasting a large vegetable like celeriac whole means it's certainly eye-catching!
I was inspired to make it after seeing Jamie Oliver's recipe for Zombie Brain in Save with Jamie . I loved the idea of a whole roasted celeriac and immediately wanted to try the recipe.
The original zombie brain recipe looked delicious but had a cream based mustard sauce with butter too!
Well, I don't know about you but at Halloween we are eating so many sweets and chocolates that I want to make our main meals as healthy and light as possible.
How I made a lighter creamy sauce for this whole roasted celeriac
To make a lighter sauce I replaced the cream with yogurt and said goodbye to the butter too! I also adapted the flavours and made a curried sauce instead of mustard.
I didn't change it completely though. My zombie brain is still a whole roasted celeriac served with pearl barley and mushrooms. It may not be a recipe you've thought of making before but it is absolutely delicious and filling.
The leftovers even taste great, although I have to admit that they don't look good. It is a rather grey looking dish, especially after you've begun to slice into the celeriac.
Is it just a Halloween recipe?
Now, although it's perfect for Halloween, it's still a great recipe to enjoy at other times of year too. If you want to add some colour then some peas, broccoli and fresh herbs can quickly brighten it up a little! Now that I've discovered just how good celeriac is roasted whole, I'll definitely be making it again.
Can you adapt this Zombie Brain Recipe?
I think the celeriac works brilliantly here but you could adapt it and use another whole roasted vegetable. Cauliflowers are brilliant roasted whole using the same method and a cauliflower would work very well as a replacement in this recipe. You could even use potatoes.
If you don't like yogurt you could use cream instead. You could also vary the spices and of course you could return more to the recipe that inspired this and make a mustard sauce.
If you don't have pearl barley you could replace it with a different grain too.
As I've mentioned already, some green vegetables and herbs also make a great addition.
What can you do with the leftovers?
The leftovers can be kept in the fridge and eaten up the next day. In fact, they should keep for three days but I always think roasted vegetables like celeriac are better eaten sooner rather than later!
You can reheat in the microwave or in the oven. If heating in the oven then put in an oven proof container and cover lightly with aluminium foil.
More celeriac recipes
If you like celeriac then why not try my spiced celeriac soup recipe or my carrot and celeriac salad?
More Halloween Recipes
If you are looking for more recipes perfect for Halloween then why not try one of these. I can't claim that the cake is a healthy Halloween choice but the pumpkin cookies do have homemade pumpkin puree in!
Recipe
Whole Roasted Celeriac
Ingredients
- 1 whole celeriac
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme or use a sprig of fresh thyme
- pinch of black pepper
- pinch of salt
- 2 cloves garlic in their skins but crushed slightly with the back of a knife.
- 200 g pearl barley
- ½ onion finely diced
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 400 g mushrooms
- 2 teaspoon curry powder
- 200 ml stock
- 3 tablespoon natural yoghurt
Instructions
- Scrub the celeriac to make sure it's really well cleaned as you don't peel it.
- Take a large piece of aluminium foil. Put the celeriac in the middle, drizzle with the olive oil, season with a little salt and pepper and sprinkle over the thyme and the 2 whole cloves of garlic. Wrap the celeriac up well.
- Cook it for 2 hours in the oven at 180C until it is soft all the way through.
- While the celeriac is cooking, cook the pearl barley.
- About 30 minutes before the celeriac is ready, cook the onions gently with a little olive oil until they are soft then add the crushed garlic.
- Cook for about a minute before adding the mushrooms and the curry powder.
- Add the stock and turn up the heat a little. Let it simmer until the liquid has almost disappeared.
- Stir in the yoghurt and cooked pearl barley at the end.
Notes
Nutrition
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Kat (The Baking Explorer)
This is such a fun idea and it sounds so yummy too!
Corina Blum
Thanks Kat! I didn't manage to get my kids to try it unfortunately though!
Balvinder
That's quite spooky and delcious for Halloween!
Corina Blum
Thanks Balvinder!
Sonali- The Foodie Physician
Wow, I love celeriac but I've never roasted it whole! The curry sauce sounds delicious and I love that you used yogurt instead of cream.
Corina
Thank you. Yoghurt goes so well in curries and so it was a perfect substitute in this
Serena Ball MS, RD (@tspcurry)
Yum! Love the use of barley and my namesake curry!
Corina
Thanks! Glad you like it.
Josefine
Oh yum! This sounds so so delicious. Love celeriac
Corina
Thank you!
Strength and Sunshine
Such a good idea! I LOVE celeriac, but never whole roasted it like cauliflower!
Corina
I hope you try it! I'm sure you'll love it if you love roasted cauliflower and roasting is definitely one of the tastiest ways to prepare vegetables.
dietitianjess
I've only had celeriac at restaurants... would be fun to try at home!
Corina
It's very easy too! Definitely not just for restaurant meals.
Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health
i have never tried celeriac root, seen some recipes with pureed/mashed version. im intrigued by this whole roasted one. and the yogurt - yummm
Corina
I'm sure you'd love it!
Culinary Flavors
What a warm, homey dish! Happy Christmas to you and your family!
Corina
Thank you Katerina! Hope you've had a wonderful Christmas as well.