Potato puree with celery

Prepare all the necessary ingredients for the recipe for mashed potatoes with celery. You need to choose a fresh, properly shaped celery root. The skin should be firm, without any rotten areas. In a cross-section, the celery root is light, dense, and very aromatic. It is better to use boiling potatoes for mashed potatoes, then it will cook quickly, the puree will be smooth and without lumps. Choose good quality butter and cream with a clean composition so that the puree is not only tasty but also very healthy. For the cheese crust, I used Parmesan, it goes well with this dish. But you can use any hard cheese that you like.

Rinse the celery root, peel it, and rinse it again. Cut it into small equal cubes. If you like the taste of celery, you can cut more than indicated in the recipe.

Peel the potatoes, rinse them, and cut them into medium-sized pieces. Potatoes cook faster than celery, so you need to cut them into larger pieces compared to celery.

Place the potatoes and celery in a suitable sized pot, rinse under running water. Fill with cold water until the vegetables are submerged.

Add 0.5 teaspoons of salt and bring to a boil over medium heat, covering the pot with a lid. Once the water boils, reduce the heat. Potatoes and celery root should cook for at least 20 minutes, depending on the size of the pot, the type of vegetables, and the size of the diced pieces. If you need to quickly make mashed potatoes, you can slice all the vegetables. This will speed up the cooking process, but the mashed potatoes will have a more watery taste.

Grate hard cheese (I used Parmesan) with a fine grater while the vegetables are boiling for the potato and celery mash.

Pierce the celery root and potatoes with a knife. If the knife goes in smoothly, then the vegetables are ready to be removed from the heat. Carefully drain all the hot water from the pot.

Add a piece of butter and warm 20% cream to the boiled celery and potatoes at the same time. This should be done simultaneously to ensure that the future mash is as hot as possible.

Vigorously mash the mashed potatoes with celery root for 3-5 minutes. You can do this manually or with a mixer. The main thing is not to use a blender, as the puree will become very liquid. The puree should have a creamy texture, without lumps, smooth and airy.

Transfer the puree to a serving dish or plate. Taste the puree for salt and add to taste if necessary. Sprinkle with grated cheese to create a cheese layer.

The cheese will melt if the puree is hot enough. If the puree has cooled down and no crust has formed, you can put the dish in the microwave or in a preheated oven for 1-2 minutes.

Garnish the finished dish with basil sprigs or any other herbs, and serve hot. The refreshing taste of celery root will diversify the usual mashed potatoes, and the cheesy layer on top will be incredibly appetizing. This puree is so delicious that you'll want to eat more of it than the main course, all because of its lightness and delicate creamy texture. Dinner with potato and celery root puree is guaranteed to be tastier. Bon appétit!