“Scallops” of Celeriac with Saffron Sauce

This beautiful entrée features vegetarian “scallops” made from celeriac cut into pucks, and served with a creamy saffron sauce and crisp slaw. The colorful presentation and unexpected flavors of this dish make it an exciting plant-based entrée option for your guests.

 
 

Yield: 1 each

Method

For the Slaw:

  1. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar over medium heat.

  2. Add the salt, pepper, celery seed, and mustard.

  3. Combine julienned celeriac and Radicchio and mix well.

  4. Pour the vinegar mixture over the vegetable mix. Allow it to marinate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Drain and reserve for service.

For the Saffron Sauce:

  1. Bloom the saffron in the hot water for 15 minutes. Reserve

  2. Heat the oil in a small sauté pan over low heat. Add the shallot and sweat without allowing them to color.

  3. Add the thyme and cook for 1 minute.

  4. Add Pernod and reduce au sec.

  5. Add the wine and reduce by ½.

  6. Add the reserved saffron water.

  7. Whisk in the cream soup base powder until it dissolves, and the sauce is smooth.

  8. Heat to a simmer. Reserve for service.

For the Celeriac Scallops:

  1. Using a biscuit cutter, cut 1 ½” rounds from the celeriac slices. Save the trimmings for other uses.

  2. Brine the rounds of celeriac in the basic brine for 24 hours.

  3. Remove the celeriac from the brine and rinse.

  4. Place it in a vacuum seal bag with the 3 T. butter. Seal it with a vacuum sealer. Place the bag in circulator at 185°F for 3 hours. Remove and cool. Reserve for service.

  5. Boil the broccoli rabe in the salted water until tender. Reserve for service.

  6. At service, in a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the broccoli rabe and sauté briefly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  7. At service, sear the celeriac in butter until it is brown on the outside and heated through.

  8. To assemble, place 1 ½ oz. of the Saffron Sauce on a plate to one side. Place 1 to 2 oz. of the broccoli rabe across from the sauce. Place 1 oz. of the slaw at the base of the broccoli rabe. Place three pieces of celeriac on the sauce.

Source: Chef Rudy Smith from Unilever Food Solutions. Published with permission of the author. All rights reserved.

Ingredients

For the Slaw:

¼ cup granulated sugar
1 cup rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. Maille® Old Style Mustard
1 pinch kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. celery seed
1 head radicchio, thinly sliced
4 oz. celeriac, fine julienne

For the Saffron Sauce:

¼ tsp. saffron threads
2 cups hot water
2 tsp. olive oil 
2 tsp. shallot, minced
½ tsp. fresh thyme leaves, chopped 
1 oz. Pernod
½ cup white wine
½ cup LeGout® Cream Soup Base Powder

For the Celeriac Scallops:

3 ea. celeriac, sliced 1-in. thick
1 cup Basic Brine (Recipe here)
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
as needed, unsalted butter
1 bunch broccoli rabe, cleaned, trimmed
as needed, water
as needed, kosher salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
to taste, kosher salt
to taste, ground black pepper

This recipe and video were produced by The Culinary Institute of America as an industry service,
thanks to the generous support of Unilever Food Solutions.