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IF YOU’RE ESCHEWING the traditional turkey or animal-based centrepiece of your Christmas dinner this year, there are plenty of options to replace it.
But you do want to pick something that feels special – and that might take that bit of prep time, just like cooking a turkey does.
These celeriac strudels with portobello mushrooms and sun‑dried tomatoes are full of umami flavour and are incredibly filling, and are show-stopping enough to impress your dining companions. Plus, they’re totally vegan and filled with vegetables. Win-win.
In this extract from Cornucopia: The Green Cookbook, you’ll learn how to make the celeriac strudel from scratch.
About the ingredients
Sweet, nutty and creamy with savoury undertones of celery, celeriac is an extremely versatile but undervalued root vegetable. Admittedly its knobbly, hairy appearance hardly makes a great first impression, but it offers an understated backdrop for many flavours and textures. Here it is used to great effect with crispy filo, sun-dried tomatoes, Portobello mushrooms and the wonderful combination of caraway and raspberry vinegar. A made-in-a-minute pea and chive salsa adds a flash of springtime cheer to a dish that can made from early autumn onwards.
Advance preparation
The night before, thaw the frozen filo pastry overnight in the fridge, and remove from the fridge an hour prior to use to bring to room temperature.
Method
Grate the celeriac in a large mixing bowl. Mix a tablespoon of the vinegar with a little water and toss the grated celeriac in this to prevent it browning from oxidation. (A little lemon juice in water will do the same thing.) Set aside.
Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a frying pan, fry off the mushrooms until nicely browned and set aside to cool.
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Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over a medium-high heat, add the onions and minced garlic and sauté for about five minutes, stirring frequently. Add the wine and cook out the alcohol for five to 10 minutes before adding the remaining 50ml vinegar and ground caraway.
Mill the sun-dried tomatoes in the food processor until they are well broken down into a stringy texture, rinse and add to the onion mixture together with the grated celeriac. Cook, stirring continuously, for another few minutes until the celeriac begins to break down.
Season to taste, and remove from the heat. Add the tofu (for soft tofu, just crumble it in, or grate it in, if hard) and stir to combine well.
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Making the strudel
Clear a generous work space, remove the filo sheets from the packets, cover with a damp tea towel to prevent them drying out, and construct one strudel with six filo sheets, half the celeriac mixture and half the mushrooms as per these instructions:
A strudel is something like a giant spring roll, which you fill towards the top of a vertical strip of pastry, creating borders for tucking in, and then roll towards you.
Lay one sheet of filo pastry vertically on the counter and brush lightly with rapeseed oil. Top with a second sheet and brush this too.
Starting 6cm down from the top, pile one-sixth of the filling horizontally across the width of the pastry, but leaving a 6cm border on the left and right sides.
If you’re using any extra ingredients, like the mushroom slices, lay a few of these over the filling now.
Fold in both side borders over the filling and brush both resulting strips with a little oil. Fold down the top edge of the pastry over the filling and then carefully roll the strudel towards you like a giant spring roll.
Transfer carefully to the parchment-lined tray, brush with a little oil and top with a very light sprinkling of caraway seeds, if using.
Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling. Bake the strudels in the preheated oven for 40 – 45 minutes or until lightly browned.
While they are cooking, prepare the pea and chive salsa. (See below)
Serve piping hot slices with a generous dollop of the salsa.
Serves 6 • Complex. Can be made gluten-free with gluten-free filo pastry.
Ingredients
12 sheets frozen vegan filo pastry, defrosted
(typically 6 per packet)
60ml raspberry vinegar
1 celeriac, peeled and grated (should yield
about 500–600g)
300g Portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
3 large onions, thinly sliced
5 garlic cloves, minced
160ml white wine
1 tablespoon ground caraway seeds
150g sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil)
250g smoked tofu (soft or hard)
1 teaspoon whole caraway seeds (optional)
rapeseed oil
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You will need:
food processor
grater
pastry brush
large parchment-lined oven tray
Tip: These strudels can be assembled a day in advance, brushed with oil and
refrigerated overnight.
Pea and chive salsa
Simple – gluten-free and wheat-free.
With background flavours that are a little tangy, umami and sweet, this salsa lets the freshness of the peas and chives really sing.
1 large bunch (25g) fresh chives
1 tablespoon water
1 heaped tablespoon (5g) nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon apple concentrate or agave syrup
a pinch of salt
250g frozen peas, thawed
You will need:
high-speed blender or food processor
Combine all the ingredients except the peas in a high-speed blender or food processor and blitz until smooth. Add the peas and pulse to break down a little and combine, but without blending to a completely smooth purée.
Serve with the strudels.
Cornucopia, on Dublin’s Wicklow St, has been serving up vegetarian fare for more than 30 years. Cornucopia: The Green Cookbook “is for anyone who feels there is merit in reducing or limiting our consumption of animal-based food products from a trusted team of chefs”
Cornucopia: The Green Cookbook is published by Gill Books, priced at €29.99.
Green Christmas is supported by Volvo, a car manufacturer which has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2040.
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@billy Dorney:ah the permanently outraged will have to find something else to be shocked about before xmas so….I’m thinking maybe Garda Bands or men having pints watching football in pubs or something ….
@Keith. Yes a bad name! Who questions a girl that has been raped by stating that ‘what blame is the girl for putting herself in that position’? He is a 1960′s man and should be left in that generation. Anyone who has an ounce of brain power knows he is an idiot and a joke. Controversial to enlighten the lives of people who need to get a life!
@Johnnie Sexton: No they have gagged him pre recorded so he can’t interact with his audience which was his forte,interesting the character assassins Donoghue and McInerney have now left having destroyed Hook then and their own pile of rubbish went belly up also will never read anything written by O Tool either.I am no great lover of Pat Kenny but he was the only one who publicly backed George on Newstalk.We dare not speak out against any of the PC agendas without being a Nazi,Homophobic or gender biased and god help you if you are a white Irish male.
@Catherine Sims: Pre Recorded from George.Sad.If George had any balls he should tell D’O'B and Newstalk to stick it where the sun don’t shine.George LIVE is the only way.Love him or loath him.
@Whoswho: You said men have a bad name because of George Hook. So men have a bad name huh really ?! Wtf
And all because of George Hook?
Whoever you are – you have a brain like a Shepard’s Pie.
I bet your favourite number’s 2
About the same as your IQ
@Whoswho: if men have a bad name it’s because we’ve been labelled as such the cultural Marxists. In a world replete with “vulnerable” groups we are the monsters.
@Misanthrope: that’s from the “all men are ba@tards “ brigade – usually while trying to make some equality / gender balance argument they completely negate by labeling us decent normal men as having a bad name , it would be like me saying all women are bad drivers or something , once you label the entire gender as anything you’ve lost your argument I’m afraid. All men don’t have a bad name. Some do. Just like women.
@Gerry Murphy: shows the busy schedule she had when she could step in on such short notice and take over that slot , plus sat , plus
Sunday . Apart from.Yates the whole station has gone OTT with the political correctness ..Then to top it all you have Paul Williams 5 mornings a week ,A man who’d make Ken Barlow sound interesting .
@Alan Chapman: pretty lame , she seems very nice person but so lame and safe on the radio , and its all a bit GIRLSTALK anytime ive switched in , same ol whines about equality , pay gaps , gender balance and any other hotch potch of boring snowflakey non sense …. they seem to think because the station goes OFF THE BALL after 7 and is blokey that to ‘balance things up ” we have to have middle of the road girly shit during the day…
@Alan Chapman: she didn’t stab George in the back at least. She was measured and relatively fair with her criticism. Can’t beat Hook however, really looking forward to his return.
That woman is on everything of late and useless while proper female journalists such as Sarah Mcinerney were let go for her. She was in the indo this week about taking her child out of school for a week. Who loopy cares
Yes , about time , loved listening to hooky on the evening shift it got me all angry and energised to push through those last few hours , Viva la Hook.
@sean nihill: Amazed he is coming back….Thought his colleagues in Newstalk had finished him off….If Newstalk were an army they would shoot their wounded. …
Rarely listen to Newstalk since George was let go (except for Pat Kenny and occasionally Moncrieff) voting with my feet, RTE1 extra more than makes up for Newstalk, when he returns I will too
@Charles Coughlan: Yeah that’s it for me Pat Kenny, and Off-The-Ball sometimes I’m usually a Joe Duffy guy but if its crap I’m over to Moncrieff who’s quite funny.
George Hook should be off the airwaves because he is a terrible broadcaster who has not changed his tune since he first came onto radio/television not because of these remarks. Newstalk handling of this was atrocious and the reluctance in this country to debate this hot topic for fear of the PC brigade really irks me.
@Maxwell: Absolutely. But this has nothing to do with ‘PC’. It has everything to do with the fact that the guy has never said anything of interest in his entire career. Predicatable, boring. Complete rubbish. Jesus, would you listen to him if he was at the bar next to you?
Can’t handle Ciara. Despite not being terrible the show has become too much like Women’s Hour on the BBC, last time I listened. NewsTalk seem to be over compensating for Hook’s perceived slights. Wonder what the audience figures will be next time around.
Would say a lot of people have switched off. PC wins (temporarily) over audience figures.
@Observer: American talk radio can be great! And Newstalk was great but has gone downhill in a boring kind of way. George used the wrong choice of words but he is a good man and a family man and does respect women and to suggest otherwise is pure nonsense. George also knew how to entertain which is the whole point of the radio show, try to make mundane day to day things interesting.
@gregory:
Didn’t pass any comment on his family or his personal life . He’s a public figure who made his reputation on controversy which is fair enough actually agree with him on some points .
So I think it’s fair enough to call him out when he gets it wrong in saying that everyone deserves a second chance
George got tired of saying responsibility and used the wrong word blame. If people couldn’t see what he was trying to say, well then I’d say, I’ve seen every kind of critter God ever made and I’ve never seen a more meaner lower stinking yellow hypocrites than these people.
Should never have been suspended. As a society we have allowed ourselves to be controlled by the indignation outrageratti brigade, smugly pouncing on harmless inarticulate comments.
Simply cannot believe the comments I am reading here.. nor what Ireland I find myself living in these days…this misogynistic arrogant man should be quite simply off all national airwaves….not a man of this time! His and his pals of yesteryear’s comments are no longer de rigueur nor acceptable to the wider audience…of today. Repugnant and revulsive…in fact!
@Gearoidin Ni Canainn: well if you find the ireland your living in these days bad ive very bad news about the future , because idiots like you prefer sanitised safe bland drivel and think that older presenters are just yesteryear’ and you somehow think that because you dont like the opinions of some presenter they should ‘quite simply’ be off the airwaves – and I wonder what you propose for replacement exactly – the more homogenised broadcasting is becoming the more bland safe space and PC nonsense – keep wishing for that so , come back to me in a few years with how tolerable you find the Ireland you will be living in then. Moran.
@Col de Gal: ….
Not ageist at all..my boy..
There is no age nowadays at which Hook’s behaviour is acceptable….not sure what century your mind resides in? Welcome to the modern world.of accountability!
@Pizyco: What sort of a bygone drivel are you??Firstly, you do not have the balls nor the decency to use your own real name here…but are a ‘small man’ hiding behind a pseudonym??…or small man full of wind but of little or no real confidence to expose yourself ..being the more likely.
My comments are nothing whatsoever to do with ageism.. These outrageous comments by George Hook..are no longer acceptable at any age.. full stop.!
I , unlike you believe that we collectively create our own future….not await for the future we are given…too much for your ‘pea sized brain…no doubt!
You do not represent any man I would hope can influence the future if Ireland…for all our sakes…
Newstalk was much better before it became a National radio station!
Listeners hardly get a look in now!
They used to have a good controversial morning programme with Brenda Power but I don’t think
She was into being PC which probably didn’t suit some people.
@Mairead Hilliard: its interesting how people get so easily outraged these days and and permanently think that unless your safe sanitised PC crap you shouldnt be on air , and then wonder why the overall quality in radio and media is falling into such band mediocrity….people need to be careful what they wish for , the public wants what the public gets indeed….
@Pizyco: You’re so right. All those victims of sexual violence being “outraged” at someone stating they must share blame with the perpetrator/s who sexually assaulted &/or raped them, should just stop wanting to ruin the “quality of radio and media” for everyone else by expecting “safe sanitised PC crap”, and instead accept that some people can say whatever they want without having to care about the consequences of their words.
“The presenter ended a monologue on the issue of rape with the question “is there no blame now to the person who puts themselves in danger?” – the big big problem with this statement is the word BLAME “Oh look your Honour she made me do it” FFS!
Bizarre anyone would want him on the airwaves, probably one of the the most stupid, idiotic anti woman statements ever made on radio.
@Ken Hayden: People aren’t looking for a perfect world, because nature doesn’t capitulate to our sense of perfection. What some people are looking for, especially in relation to sexual violence, is that the perpetrators of such acts are held 100% accountable for their actions. Some of us are sick to death of wasn’t the victim “asking for it” becuase they dressed/talked/walked/drank/etc as an excuse to share the blame. There is no blame to share. There is no responsibility to share. The responsibility is the perpetrator’s, and theirs alone. Ensuring that this becomes a societal norm just might make a significant amount of people not assault or rape someone.
@Felicity Hensen: You are right ,but all women would not agree ,were you ever in the company of women ,one of which would be determined to take her friend’s husband and who would scold her own daughter for dressing provocatively ,they are there you know
@Austin Rock: wasting your time Austin. His supporters like to conveniently forget that he talked about her being passed around and questioned her judgment on the night but of course not that of the men there… But he only used one incorrect word apparently.
Hook should have been fired. History of anti woman comments and victim blaming is despicable. Disheartened by many of the comments here. Newstalk creeps me out. I want my media 50/50 men and women not just old white men wittering on.
Get rid of that obnoxious man.He should just fade into the background.
He is not important to anybody.He will not be missed .He is a man so opinionated that what he says should be ridiculed at every moment he opens his mouth.Not alone that he is completely incoherent and he Sounds like he has a very bad speech impediment. When he opens his mouth it sounds like he is dribbling out morose cacoughinous mumbo jumbo.Just go away George.Your time is up.
Is it not a better course of action whilst this boorish over privileged sponger is off the air to terminate his contract, radio has got on fine without him. he will not be missed.
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