Growing and cooking parsnips (From The Argus)

Aromatic parsnip hash

4:49pm Friday 4th December 2009

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Parsnips are better after the first frost, as they contain starches that convert to sugars when the temperature drops below zero. If you’re vegetarian, or trying to have a couple of non-meat days a week for health or budget reasons, or want to use up those Christmas lunch leftover veggies, this recipe is ideal.

Parsnips are also fiends to dig up, which means that your back will probably be aching by the time you get enough out of the ground to make a decent meal. If your parsnip roots fork, the soil wasn’t fine enough, and while you might think you don’t mind forking parsnips, believe me, they are about eight times harder to get out of the ground and at least a dozen times tougher to clean and peel. In our house the exclamation ‘forking parsnips!’ describes any particularly difficult task, and if yours have forked this year, you’ll be very keen to get some sand or grit and some compost into the ground before you plant next year’s seed!

Around a kilo of raw parsnips peeled and diced, or 800 grams leftover roasted parsnips

A small winter cabbage or some Brussels sprouts or kale, finely chopped – say about 400 grams

1 small red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

Turmeric, garam masala and cumin to taste

25 grams butter

Boil uncooked parsnips with the turmeric until totally soft, or for already cooked ones, mash with turmeric and butter. Blanch the green vegetables if uncooked for about three minutes, or mash leftovers separately to parsnip before combining. Add black pepper to the mixture.

Drain freshly cooked vegetables very well. Pour a little oil into a frying pan and fry the chilli and the remaining spices for a few seconds until fragrant, then add the rest of the mixed parsnip and green vegetables and fry. If you’re very clever, apparently, you can get this to form a cake and flip it over with a fish slice. I am not clever and it breaks up but I don’t care, as it tastes just as good when it’s jumbled as it does when it’s elegant.

Serve as a brunch with eggs, as a supper on toast, or with sausages as a delicious dinner.