Crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy in the middle, these parsnips from Delia Smith are a lovely addition to any Sunday roast. You can also use this same coating with sweet potatoes.
You can prepare the parsnips up to a day ahead and keep them in the fridge. You can also coat them in the flour and parmesan mixture and freeze them. Just make sure to defrost them fully before cooking.
Serves 8
INGREDIENTS:
50 g freshly grated Parmesan
1 kg parsnips, peeled
175 g plain flour
groundnut or other flavourless oil for baking
a knob of butter
salt and freshly milled black pepper
METHOD:
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/ Gas 6. Combine the flour, Parmesan, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.
Halve and quarter the parsnips lengthways and cut each length in half across, so that you end up with smallish chunks. Cut out any tough woody centres.
Place the parsnips in a saucepan, pour in enough boiling water just to cover them and add salt, and cover. Bring to the boil and boil for 3 minutes.
Drain them in a colander and, whilst they are still steaming, drop a few at a time into the flour and parmesan mixture, shaking the bowl to get a good even coating. Make sure you do them all fairly swiftly as the flour mixture will only coat them whilst they are still steamy!
When they’re all coated they are ready to cook or store in the fridge or freeze.
To bake them, place a large flame-proof roasting tin in the oven to pre-heat and in it put enough oil just to cover the base and a knob of butter for flavour.
When the oven is ready, remove the tin and place it over direct heat (turned fairly low) and, using tongs, place the parsnips quickly side by side in the tin. Tilt it and baste all the parsnips with hot fat, place the tin in the oven and bake them for 20 minutes, then turn them over, drain off any surplus fat and continue to bake for a further 15-20 minutes or until they are crisp and golden.
