Grape, celeriac and apple salad with goat’s cheese and hazelnuts

Grape, celeriac and apple salad with goat’s cheese and hazelnuts

Autumn

I love this simple assembly. It’s full of sweet grapes, crunchy earthy celeriac, crisp apple, soft rich goat’s cheese and slightly bitter toasted hazelnuts. Fresh thyme and a light dressing of honey and lemon bring everything together beautifully.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • ¼ celeriac, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks, about 100g
  • 2 small dessert apples, quartered, cored and cut into thin wedges
  • 100g ripe red grapes
  • 50g hazelnuts
  • 75g goat’s or sheep’s cheese, crumbly
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 tsp runny honey
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

If the hazelnuts have their skins on, roast them in a dry pan over a high heat for a few minutes. Tip them into a clean tea towel while still hot and rub them between your hands, the skins will flake away easily. Set aside to cool, then lightly break them up.

In a bowl, toss the celeriac and apple with 1 tbsp of the olive oil, the juice of half the lemon and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. This lightly dresses everything and helps prevent the apple and celeriac from browning.

Arrange the dressed celeriac and apple over a large serving platter, or divide between four plates. Scatter over the grapes, crumble over the cheese and finish with the toasted hazelnuts.

Strip the thyme leaves from their stalks and sprinkle them over the top. Trickle over the honey, squeeze over the remaining lemon juice and finish with the rest of the olive oil. Serve straight away.