PARSNIP AND CELERIAC MASH
Recipe
As the days cool down during autumn, parsnip and celeriac hit the fresh produce market shelves. The colder the evening the sweeter the taste, as the sugar content increases. For anyone unfamiliar with celeriac, creating a mash is a wonderful introduction and an alternative to potatoes.
Cooking parsnips and celeriac in a half-half combination of milk with stock creates an earthy, sweet, smooth and creamy texture. Serve with your next slow cook, like a lamb shoulder or osso bucco and you won’t be disappointed.
Serves 6 as a main or 4-6 as a side.
Peel the parsnips, cut into quarters lengthways and remove the centre core (this can be woody). Slice parsnip into 2cm-3cm pieces.
Using a sharp knife, cut away the knobbly base of the celeriac and peel the skin. Place the cut side down on the chopping board and cut into roughly 1cm dice.
Heat the butter and oil in a large heavy based frying pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped celeriac and parsnip and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking to base of pan. Add the milk, stock or water, garlic, sage sprigs and a teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to the boil, then immediately reduce heat to low and cover with a tight-fitting lid.
Cook for about 12 minutes or until very tender and easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the heat. At this stage most of the liquid will have been absorbed, remove the lid and allow any excess liquid to evapourate, about 5 minutes if necessary. Discard the bay leaf and sage. Ignore the milk curds throughout the vegetables, this all adds flavour and blends into the mash.
Transfer cooked parsnip, celeriac and garlic to a food processor and add the crème fraiche then blend until smooth. Season with salt, if needed. Alternatively, for a rustic coarse style mash, simply add the creme fraiche to the pan of vegetables and crush with a potato hand masher to the desired consistency.
Serve in a bowl garnished with fresh sage leaves and a drizzle of extra olive oil, to pass around
Ingredients
650g parsnips
650g -700g celeriac
30g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
125ml (1/2 cup) milk
125ml (1/2 cup) vegetable or chicken stock (or water)
1 garlic clove, peeled
6 sprigs sage leaves, plus extra sage leaves for garnish
sea salt flakes
200g crème fraiche
