Celeriac is used in place of celery in this pasta dish inspired by a Bloody Mary
Serves 2
· 1 head of celeriac
· Spaghetti
· 3 handfuls of kale
· Salt
· 1 onion, finely diced
· 2 cloves garlic, grated or thinly sliced
· Olive oil
· Tomato concentrate
· Vodka (optional)
· Port (optional)
· Tabasco
· Henderson’s relish or Worcestershire sauce or vegan Worcestershire sauce.
· Black pepper
· Celery salt (optional)
· Olive brine (optional)
1. Top and tail the celeriac and remove the skin with a peeler. Using a spiraliser, make ‘noodles’ from the celeriac. Otherwise, use a peeler to make ‘ribbons’ or coarsely grate the celeriac.
2. Pull the kale leaves from the woody stalks and wash
3. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add salt but not too much (the pasta sauce will be salty too)
4. For the sauce, add the onion and garlic to a good amount of cold olive oil in a separate pan. Heat slowly. Keep sweating the onions for about 8-10minutes until very soft- keep adjusting the heat to make sure the onion doesn’t burn.
5. Once the onion is nearly done, add the spaghetti to the boiling water. Use about 30-50g of spaghetti per person, using more or less depending on how much celeriac you have
6. Sauce again- to the onions, add 4 tablespoons of tomato concentrate. Cook this properly for 3-5 minutes until it becomes darker and drier. Keep it moving but if it sticks to the pan, this is fine.
7. Add 50ml of vodka and 25ml of port to deglaze the pan (scaping the pan while it simmers away). Just port or just vodka can be used or leave it out if you want it alcohol-free, just add more of the other flavourings.
8. Reduce the heat of the tomato sauce to very low and add a ladle full of the pasta cooking water.
9. When the spaghetti is nearly cooked, add the celeriac and the kale to the water- this will only need a minute to cook. When the pasta and vegetables are cooked, drain but reserve the cooking water
10. Still on a low heat, but simmering, keep adding small amounts of the pasta cooking water to the tomato sauce. As it bubbles it should thicken. Keep adding water until there is enough liquid to make a sauce for the spaghetti. More olive oil can be used to make the sauce even thicker.
11. Add the ‘bloody mary’ flavours to the tomato- Tabasco, Henderson’s/Worcestershire and lots of black pepper are the main ones but celery salt is a nice addition. The brine from olives (and olives if you want) can also be added. Whatever you would normally put in a bloody mary!
12. When the sauce is ready, add the cooked spaghetti and vegetables and warm through. More olive oil can be added if desired. Taste and add more seasoning as needed
13. For a proper ‘bloody mary’ kick add a very small drizzle of vodka into the sauce when it’s finished (optional)
14. When everything is hot, serve, adding a bit more black pepper.