Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for winter vegetables as standalone meals | Vegetables (2024)

That’s the case with all of today’s dishes. By all means serve the cauliflower cheese with a substantial main course if you want, but don’t be shy about sitting a whole head of cheesy baked cauliflower in the middle of your plate and eating it. The same goes for the carrot and leek dish: while it would be more than happy to play second fiddle to that roast chicken, say, it’s a bold enough dish to play the starring role, especially if dotted with goat’s cheese and mopped up with bread. The celeriac, on the other hand, I find so instantly moreish that it often doesn’t make it on to the plate in the first place, let alone get relegated to the sides.

Cauliflower cheese

Make sure you buy untrimmed cauliflowers for this: the leaves have a great taste and texture, so don’t be tempted to trim them off. Don’t worry if your pot isn’t big enough to hold both cauliflowers at the same time: you can always cook them one after the other. Serves six to eight as a side dish, or four as a main course.

Heat the oven to 230C/450F/gas mark 8. Pour the milk into a saucepan large enough to fit both cauliflower heads snugly, and for which you have a lid, then add the bay leaves, peppercorns, nutmeg and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Bring the milk to a boil over a medium heat, stirring regularly so the milk doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan. Once the milk is boiling, gently lower in the cauliflower heads (the milk should come about halfway up their sides), cover and leave to simmer for 11 minutes. Flip the heads over (so the top half is now under the milk), check that the milk isn’t catching (give it a good stir), then simmer for another 11 minutes, or until the cauliflowers are cooked and soft. Lift them out and put them in a 32cm x 25cm ovenproof dish into which they fit snugly.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter on a medium-high heat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix the flour, cayenne pepper and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. Once the butter has melted, add the dry ingredients to the pan and stir together with a wooden spoon. Cook for about a minute, stirring constantly, then take off the heat and add the hot milk a little at a time, stirring to incorporate every addition to avoid any lumps before adding more (you can add it in larger doses towards the end). You should end up with a smooth, glossy sauce.

Pour the bechamel sauce evenly over the cauliflowers, then sprinkle the remaining stilton and the walnuts on top. Bake for 20 minutes, until the cauliflowers are evenly golden and nicely charred in places, then remove from the oven, sprinkle the tarragon on top and serve warm or at room temperature.

Whole roast celeriac with coriander seeds and olive oil

I love this so much, I’ve been known to eat it straight out of the pan. It’s also ridiculously easy. Serves four.

1 large celeriac (1.2kg), roots discarded, scrubbed clean (no need to trim or peel)
75ml olive oil, plus a little extra to drizzle
1½ tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
Flaked sea salt
1 lemon, cut into wedges, to serve

Heat the oven to 170C/335F/gas mark 3. With the tip of a small, sharp knife, pierce the celeriac all over about 20 times in total, then lay it in a baking dish and rub generously with the oil, coriander seeds and two teaspoons of flaked salt. Roast for two and a half to three hours, basting every 30 minutes, until the celeriac is soft all the way through and golden brown on the outside. Cut into wedges and serve with a wedge of lemon, a sprinkle of salt and a drizzle of oil.

Carrots and leeks, Turkish style

Put the stock, lemon juice, orange peel and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil on a high heat. Once boiling, turn down the heat to medium and leave to simmer for seven to eight minutes, to infuse and reduce a little. Strain into a large jug (the aromatics can now be discarded): you should have about 950ml of flavoured stock.

Melt the butter and oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high flame, then add the carrots (in batches, if need be: you don’t want to overcrowd the pan) and half a teaspoon of flaked salt. Saute for five to six minutes, turning the carrots over every couple of minutes or so, until browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon, then add the leeks and half a teaspoon of flaked salt to the pan, and saute for four to five minutes, turning them over gently every two minutes but not stirring, otherwise they’ll break up. When the leeks are browned all over, return the carrots to the pan and pour over 200ml of the infused stock. Cook for a couple of minutes on a medium-high heat, until reduced by two-thirds, then add another 200ml stock and repeat the reduction process. Repeat until all the liquid has been added to the pan and the vegetables are tender: this stage should take about 15 minutes in total.

• Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi and Nopi in London.