I love vegetables and salads – I really do.

Looking at some of the posts and sites on the Internet I see that quite a few are flooded with what I like to call the “fashionable vegetable of the week”. In most cases I cannot get those here which is as well, since I hesitate joining the general bandwagon – instead I prefer to dig deeper into my recipe box from around the world and go for the “old fashioned” dishes – some forgotten for a couple of decades (or more?) because they ran out of favour with the young fashionable cooks.

Germans just love their kohlrabi and children do in particular. It’s so versatile; it can be eaten raw (in salads for example) or cooked. The normal standard way to serve cooked kohlrabi is with a delicious simple butter/cream/lots-of-black-pepper sauce. The vegetable is either sliced into small cubes but mostly into small ‘French fries’.

To be honest I happily could eat myself through the many many recipes which I learned from my own family and friends all those years ago and now that our Hypermarket started stocking those little “Sputniks” (as we children then called them) they will be used in my kitchen a lot.

I made this dish a few days ago when yet again we had to be out and about and did not feel like eating, as we normally do, in a Restaurant in town. I made this dish the night before, kept in the fridge and re-heated on 200 C in my (gas-)oven. This was a good decision and I enjoyed my Kohlrabi a lot.

Today I will not give you the exact measurements here, since it all depends on the size of the individual vegetable and your personal requirements. So, do what I do in situations like this, be flexible!!!

Basmati rice, cooked and kept aside
2 x or more kohlrabi, peeled
1 x carrot, peeled and very finely chopped
1 x large onion, chopped finely
Pinch of fresh nutmeg
1 x dollop of butter
Pinch of salt and a generous! pinch of black pepper
¼ l of the kohlrabi cooking liquid
2 x Tbsp of cream
3 x Tbsp of nice cheese, like Gouda or strong cheddar, grated

Cut peeled kohlrabi in half and boil in salted water for 15-25 minutes (again, check, because it all depends on their size) When cooked and cooled down ready to handle, scoop out some of the inside without damaging the walls.

Now for the sauce; heat butter on medium heat, add chopped onion, the carrot and the scooped out kohlrabi flesh and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add cooking liquid and cream; slowly cook for a few more minutes. Take off flame and add ½ of the grated cheese, mix.

Take an oven-safe dish and add the kohlrabi.

Fill the kohlrabi with the cooked rice and spoon the sauce over the vegetables, with the remaining cheese sprinkled over this.
Bake in a pre-heated oven for app. 30 minutes or so (again – you will have to check – oven heat various and once again, in the end it all depends on the size of the vegetables.)

That’s it – ready – enjoy – Guten Appetit.

Namaskaram
Carina