This recipe started as a recommendation from my sister, after she saw it in a cooking show o Portuguese TV. In it there are quintessential Portuguese ingredients like salted Cod, Alheira, Broa, and Grelos. I made this recipe once with the proper ingredients, but I don’t always have the time to go the Portuguese grocery store. So through an iterative process of bastardization, Grelos became spinach, Cod is now salmon, and Alheira/Broa are nowhere to be seen, and out of nowhere came the celeriac. This new recipe is now something that most people can do with ingredients that are readily available, looks goods and tastes wonderfully fresh and different.

Do not fear celeriac! It is wonderful vegetable, very versatile whose flavor has a hint of sweetness and is a (very) watered down version of the more pungent stalks. The eggs combines wonderfully with the salmon and adds some color to the dish - as we say “os olhos também comem” (~ eyes also eat).

The results is dish full of flavor with citrus notes without being overpowering. As it is custom in Food For the People, it was prepared with some frozen ingredients (Salmon and Spinach) which makes it relatively easy to prepare when there is no time to do some fresh grocery shopping after work.

Variations

• The original recipe which I will translate one of these days.
• Thyme instead of rosemary.
• For the fish, I should try haddock one of these days.
• Take the fish away and you will have a vegetarian dish.
• Swiss Chard could also replace the spinach and it combines very well with orange.

Inspiration

The inspiring recipe can be found here (Portuguese) and it is a creation of the Chef José Avillez. That said, the recipe has changed so much that is bares little resemblance with the original. Full bastardization has been completed.

For the fried celeriac I stole the recipe from Jamie Oliver and improvised with the herbs I had at home.

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• Servings: 2
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 50 mins

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Ingredients

• Celeriac: 1, roughly cubbed in 0.5-1 cm pieces
• Salmon fillet: 2, aprox. 250 grams
• Spinach, 500 grams
• Eggs: 2
• Lemon: 1, zest
• Orange: 1, juice
• Rosemary leaves, 1 tablespoon, chopped
• Olive oil: 3 tablespoons, extra to brush
• Garlic clove: 1, sliced
• Sea salt: to taste
• Black Pepper: to taste

Directions

1. Top the celeriac, peel it with a knife removing the rough bits, and cut into 1 cm cubes.
2. Put a casserole-type pan on a medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once warm, add the celeriac cubes, thyme leaves and lemon zest. Add some salt, mix it all together, and turn the heat down to medium. Cover and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tender. Mix it every know and then.
3. Preheat oven to 220ºc. Brush the Salmon fillets with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Pop in in the oven for about 15 minutes or until it starts tearing apart when you put a fork to it. Once done, flake it and put it aside.
4. Once the celeric is done (it’s soft and slightly brown), remove it from the pan, add some olive oil if needed and sauté the spinach with the garlic in the same pan. As it wilts, add the salmon, orange juice and mix it all together at low eat.
5. Fry the eggs sunny side up in a thin layer of olive oil.
6. On a deep plate or bowl, layer the celeriac, the salmon spinach mix, and top it off with the egg.
7. Enjoy.

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