Last Updated on February 1, 2020 by Fiona Maclean
5-2 diet leek and celeriac gratin and a full-fat option.
Supper last night was not quite what I intended! I’ started with great plans to make a low-calorie leek and celeriac gratin and serve half of it with a salad and a quinoa burger. But, then my day seemed to vanish! In the end, as is often the case toward the end of a 5-2 diet day before supper, I was very hungry and since I’d already started to prepare the gratin, I gave up, made just the leek and celeriac gratin and then ate the lot.
Very nice it was too. But, in all honesty, if I was going to make it as a main dish deliberately (or as a side on a non-fast day), and wanted something a little richer, there are better ways to go about it. I think a little ham would have really improved the mixture and still provided a good low-calorie meal (one slice of parma ham, cut into tiny bits and scattered through the dish would add about 30 calories). Of course, the end result (so long as you don’t add ham) is something very suitable as a vegetarian supper. You can also make a richer dish by using extra cheese and replacing the creme fraiche with cream.
So, leek and celeriac gratin is a good 5:2 diet supper if you eat half this portion. I had the lot, which was just under 300 calories for a very generous portion. And, if you want to make a non-diet version (as detailed in the recipe) you’ll be adding about 200 calories per portion in the form of extra cheese and cream. It’s also a pretty good side dish – the quantities here will serve 3-4 people
Leek and Celeriac Gratin - An adaptable gratin of leek and celeriac that can be used as part of the 5:2 fast diet or can be enjoyed on non-fast days by adding extra cream and cheese
- 400 g celeriac root Peeled, quartered and finely sliced
- 2 Medium leek cleaned and sliced finely into rounds
- 2 cloves garlic
- 300 ml semi skimmed milk
- 50 ml low fat creme fraiche Or single cream
- 20 g parmesan cheese
- 2-3 shots 1-cal oil or 25g butter
- 75 g cheddar cheese for the full-calorie version
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Spray an ovenproof skillet with 1cal or (for the full-calorie version) melt 25 g of butter.
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Gently sweat the leeks and garlic for about 10 minutes till soft.
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Pour over the milk and bring to the boil. Season well with salt and pepper and put to one side.
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Put a spoonful of the leek and milk mixture onto the bottom of the skillet and spread around.
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Top with a layer of celeriac on the bottom of the casserole, then leeks, then celeriac until everything is used. Season each layer with a little salt and pepper.
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If you are using cheddar cheese, top each celeriac layer with some of the cheese. Reserve 25g of cheddar
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Pour over any remaining milk mixture, together with the cream if you are using it.
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Top everything with the finely grated parmesan and the optional cheddar. Put in the oven at 170c for 60 minutes until the celeriac slices are tender and the top is golden
Next time I make this as a main course I will be adding ham and caraway seeds. And, as a side dish, it works particularly well with game dishes like this pot roast partridge (and can cook in the oven alongside it) or these turkey breast paupiettes. You can make the whole dish up in advance and keep it in the fridge overnight. Leek and celeriac gratin also reheats well in the oven for 10 minutes or portioned and put in the microwave for a minute. Regardless of whether you make the low-calorie or full-calorie version of this leek and celeriac gratin, it’s lower in calorie than the classic potato version!
Last night it was a great 5-2 vegetarian fast day meal and next time I’ll be making the quinoa burger too. Meanwhile, in terms of weight loss, I am still gradually losing weight, despite the restaurant reviews and baking efforts!
Thinking of making this yourself? Why not pin it for later…
Much easier and quicker to make with the Slica. Looks wonderful!
This is a great recipe – I love the low calorie and full calorie options
If you had used a Slica to finely slice the celeriac and leeks and grate the cheese it would have been faster lol! Love the recipe though!
How is the diet going? Are you losing weight, because you seem to eat so well on the other days of the week.
I do lose weight, although not incredibly quickly. It seems to be about 1kg a month. I’m somewhere in between 63kg and 64kg at the moment, a huge improvement from the 72kg I was last year!
I’m sure it would be faster if I didn’t eat out quite so much and I have to admit I am trying to cut down the number of reviews I do!!!
Great blog. may try this.
Super Fiona, catering to my need to expand my celeriac world…This looks very yummy and British..Thanks.
I don’t know where you find the recipes and how you manage to do this.. because I have heard of celeraic but never eaten it– but this looks amazing.