"Toad in the Hole"

I'm in love. Real, true, proper actual crushing love. I have my mum to thank for introducing me to this, my newest obsession. The object of my affection is the oft overlooked Celeriac. Yes, that scary, gnarled root vegetable - literally, it is the root of celery, though not the variet of celery which most of us would usually eat. This super veg is low in carbohydrate and a great tasting substitute for potatoes. Truly, it's amazing. Go get some, and make this!

What better way than this breakfast to tell the celeriac how I feel? And also to thank the piggies, chooks and cows who all combined efforts to make this deliciousness possible, nom.

You will need:

1cm sliced of celeriac - treat each slice as a piece of bread
Free range eggs - one per piece of celeriac, I usually work on two eggs per person
Optional - cherry tomatoes
Free range ham - mine is from Barossa Fine Foods

To do:

Use a sharp paring knife to carefully remove the hard skin from the celeriac. Discard. Use a cookie cooter to slice into the middle of the celeriac - I used a love heart. Set a frying pan over moderate heat and melt a little butter in the bottom.. just enough to lubricate the pan. Add in the celeriac - the edges and also the cut outs, as well as the tomatoes if using.

Allow the celeriac to cook for around 3 minutes on each side over low heat. Celeriac seems to have a tendency to caramelise, so keep the temperature low. Once it's started to brown, crack the eggs into the centre of each piece of veg. Don't worry if the eggs run out of the middle, this won't affect the flavour! Place a lid on the saucepan and leave until eggs cooked to your liking. Serve immediately, plated with the ham.

I also cooked up an egg in my love heart shaped cookie cutter, well greased..

NB I think this would also work with eggplant, which I have likewise developed a new affection for (don't worry, celeriac, it's nothing compared to how I feel for you. Mon amor!).

(coffee from my delicious delonghi coffee wizard)