Who doesn’t love parsnips? Well, weirdly, they were not part of my life growing up and I do not understand why! My parents always had a vegetable garden and were very much self sufficient, as was the norm then. We / They grew everything then, but as I remember everyone else did so as well, but I don’t remember parsnips, nor Swede, nor turnips. Yes cabbage, yes Brussels sprouts, yes to beans and peas, but no spinach, no kale, yes it is odd and unfortunately my mother is not alive and neither is the lovely Auntie Brenda, who would have told me everything! The next bit, I’ve no idea how true it is, but we lived in Belgium for 13 years and I do believe that they don’t eat Swede or turnips because of the world wars. They ate them then, rather than give them to any livestock that was still alive ( well who wouldn’t) but since then No! True or False? I’ve no idea, but I have to say, I don’t recall seeing either in the supermarkets, or indeed in my local street market.
But back to parsnips. I made soup the other week with parsnips, which even though I say it myself was absolutely delicious ( and I am not a big soup fan)! Not being content with making one Parsnip soup I made another ! The first was parsnip and caramelised onion and the second was Parsnip, celeriac and mushroom, the celeriac came into play simply because I had one in the refrigerator which cried out to be added to the soup, and it certainly gave an added flavour. I had been a bit wary of parsnip and mushroom but I needn’t have worried as again the finished result was good. And then yet another ! Curried Parsnip Soup! Overload perhaps? So now himself has a stock of soup, packed and frozen ready for His Lunch ! I pack them in portion sized, flat, and then I vacuum seal to minimise the space they take in the freezer.
What else do we know about Parsnips? Well they have been around since ancient times, in fact well before we in Europe had Potatoes or sugar, both of which came from the New World, and honey was expensive. Parsnips are sweet and in the past were used in all sorts of ways, simmered in wine with olive oil, enhanced with spices, in a sauce with with celery seed, coriander, stock, raisin wine and oil or even a vegetable sausage, mixed with spelt, eggs and nuts. They are an excellent source of Vitamin C and E and of course starch and fibre.
Parsnips in a greengrocers or super market don’t really look that exciting, sometimes limp , certainly frumpy and pallid, even carrots look more exciting, but parsnips, they exist alongside Celeriac which in itself is not a pretty vegetable!
Parsnips can of course be made into a gratin alongside other root vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, celeriac and Jerusalem Artichokes.( Fact about Jerusalem Artichokes, they are not Artichokes and they done come from Jerusalem ! They are part of the Sunflower family, hence in the USA they are called SUNCHOKES!)
Roast parsnips are lovely and even better when just before serving they are drizzled with some lemon juice and maple syrup. Another idea is sautéed parsnips in which they have been cut into batons, blanched sautéed in butter with some orange juice, both of which are reduced to a light glaze. And not forgetting Parsnips crisps which are easy to make.
Parsnip crisps are the quickest to cook of all root vegetable crisps to make. Heat the oven up to 160 /140 fan. Use a mandolin or a vegetable peeler to make thin strips of parsnip.
There is no need to peel your parsnips, just wash and dry them. You don’t need very much oil to make vegetable crisps, they need the thinnest of coatings.
Pop your strips into a bowl, add your oil and flavourings( such as chilli oil, sea salt, roaemary and then tumble them onto a baking tray, and then make sure that they do not overlap at all!m
Cooking time will depend on how thin or thick your strips are. Keep a close eye on them and whip them out when they are browned. You may need to take some off the tray when brown and return the slower ones to the oven for a few minutes more.
Cool them on a wire rack to help them crisp up even more.
Parsnips can also be eaten raw and in a salad. Again, using a vegetable peeler make strips of parsnips and half of them in a bowl with lemon juice and leave to soak for about 45 minutes. The other half deep fry, or as above crisps in the oven. Use these parsnips along with lettuce, rocket ( arugula) some chopped nuts, maybe some olives and some feta cheese.
But back to soup. Variations on a theme, the basic quantity of vegetable is a kilo, so doesn’t matter if you are making Parsnip soup, Carrot and Parsnip, Parsnip/Mushroom/Celeriac or Curried variations or what ever the combination you choose. So here is the basic:-
- 1 kilo of parsnips peeled and chopped
- ( 2 large onions sliced finely for the caramelised onion soup only)
- 2 large onions chopped
- 1lite of vegetable or chicken stock ( cubes or powder will suffice)
- 300 mls crème fraiche
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the caramelised soup, start off by gently sautéing the sliced onions in butter or olive oil until they are crispy and brown, remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Put to one side.
In a clean pan, add some more olive oil and sauté the chopped onions, until soft but white. Add the parsnips, and then the stock and simmer until the parsnips are very soft. Purée them in a blender or hand blender, return to the pan and stir in the crème fraiche ( or cream ), season to taste with salt and pepper.
When making a curried version, whilst sauteing the onion add a tablespoon of spoon of curry powder and mix / sauté with the onions and then follow as above.
When making the Mushroom version, just follow the original version but adding the mushrooms to the sautéed onions and fry until they are soft before adding the parsnips and stock.
For the caramelised version serve with a few of the onions floating on top of the soup, and for the others garnish with some coriander, parsley or rocket leaves.
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