Celeriac and blue cheese salad with pickled celery

Name: Celeriac and blue cheese salad recipe with pickled celery
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients: 100ml sherry vinegar; 50g sugar; 1 bay leaf; 2 star anise; 3 celery sticks; 1/2 celeriac (about 450g); 2 tbsp lemon juice; 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; 1tsp Dijon mustard; 100g Stichelton or other blue cheese; 30g blanched hazelnuts, toasted; Small bunch chives, chopped; 2 white chicory heads

Celeriac and blue cheese salad recipe with pickled celery. You can prepare much of this salad in advance

9 December 2019

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Issy Croker

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You can prepare much of this salad in advance, which is just what is needed when there are lots of people to feed. Cutting the celeriac into small cubes allows for a lighter crunch, which is a lovely contrast to the sweet-sour pickle and creamy cheese. The pickle can be made up to two weeks ahead if kept in an airtight jar in the fridge - it is a brilliant addition to sandwiches, so make lots and bring it out all Christmas.

Anne Tupker, Master of Wine: 'To showcase Thomasina's original and bold-flavoured Christmas menu, I have selected some showstopping wines from three biodynamic producers. Olivier Humbrecht makes wines in his native Alsace. The honeyed, creamy, white stone fruit character of his Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Turckheim 2014, with its added spicy, smoky complexity, provides a delightful foil for this starter (£19.50; oddbins.com).'

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Recipe notes