Parsnips are an ivory-cream root vegetable, their taste 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 a mayonnaise or tossed in a winter salad.
~ this morning, glorious colours of Autumn, lighting up the mistiest of mornings…
sweet parsnip fries
Serves 4, as a side dish
When buying organic I usually leave the peel on my root vegetables but with parsnips – the skin tends to toughen on cooking, so it is best to peel.
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 and scrub well under running water and peel the skin off them, with a sharp knife cut into fry shapes about 1 cm thick.
3. Place them in a bowl of water, move them around a few times, allow to soak for 10 minutes, then drain. This step helps to remove some of the starch and improves the crispness.
4. Place the parsnip fries on a dry towel and dry them well – very important. Allow them to air dry for 15 minutes.
5. Once dry, place in a large bowl, drizzle with melted ghee/oil and using your hands toss well until well coated in oil.
6. Pour the parsnip fries on a lined baking sheet, (may need to use two) and arrange them so they are not overlapping and bake for 30 – 40 minutes until golden brown. No need to flip them halfway during cooking. Serve immediately.
Goodness shared by Stacey
