Celery
Similar vegetables
Lovage, celeriac
A quick introduction
Celery consists of long stalks that, when eaten raw, have a watery, crunchy texture and a delicate, refreshing taste that is almost a little salty. The pale green stalks are topped with green leaves, which forms a great herb-like ingredient in itself. Celery is a popular crudité (raw vegetable), but also figures as an important ingredient in Italian soffritto and other base preparations.
Storage
Celery stores for quite a few days in the vegetable drawer of the fridge.
Season
Summer to fall
Suggestions for preparation
The talks of the celery can be eaten raw after trimming off the bottom white part that holds all the stalks together. Raw celery is delicious when dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, hummus, or any other dip you like. If the celery is very fibrous, you can also peel the outer layer.
To create a soffrito, finely chop the celery and sauté it in olive oil together with diced onions and carrots. This forms the basis for many dishes ranging from rich meat ragout to delicate soups.
Celery can also be delicious as a stand-alone veggie dish sautéed with some aromatics such as garlic and thyme, or as part of a stir-fry.
Recipes
Use your summer and fall veggies in this Minestrone soup.
Make a pasta Bolognese (feel free to omit the chicken liver and bacon to shorten the ingredient list).
Large chunks of celery are great in this vegetable tajine.
Swiss chard and celery gratin