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Parsnips are an ivory-cream root vegetable that tastes slightly astringent with a gentle earthy sweetness.

Parsnips taste sweeter as the soil temperature drops—the starch in them turns to sugar—so they’ll be at their best just after a cold snap. These tender morsels are lovely as a garnish in a hot soup like this one, steamed, mashed to a puree, roasted in ghee, served like this with mayonnaise, or tossed in a winter salad.

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~ this morning, glorious colours of Autumn, lighting up the mistiest of mornings…

tip

When buying organic, I usually leave the peel on my root vegetables, but with parsnips, the skin tends to toughen when cooked, so it is best to peel. 

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sweet parsnip fries

serves 4, as a side dish

ingredients 

7 medium/480g parsnips

2 Tbsp ghee/oil

rock salt

freshly ground pepper

preparation 

  1. Preheat oven to 210C/410F.
  2. Rinse the parsnips, scrub well under running water, and peel the skin off them; cut them into fry shapes about 1 cm thick with a sharp knife.
  3. Place them in a bowl of water, move them around a few times, allow them to soak for 10 minutes, and then drain. This step helps to remove some of the starch and improve the crispness.
  4. Placing the parsnip sticks on a dry towel and allowing them to air dry for 15 minutes is very important.
  5. Once dry, place in a large bowl, drizzle with melted ghee or oil and toss well with your hands until it is well coated in oil.
  6. Place the parsnip fries on a lined baking sheet (you may need to use two), arrange them so they are not overlapping, and bake for 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown. There is no need to flip them halfway during cooking. Serve immediately.

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Goodness shared from Stacey