My garden is laden with parsnips; my produce box teems with carrots.
So, we ate carrot-parsnip mash last night.
And, boy, was it good. Equal parts sliced carrots and sliced parsnips, roasted at 425 degrees til tender. Then whirred in the food processor with a bit of butter.
Or maybe it was more than a bit of butter….
Veggie mash solved the problem of what to do with the carrot stubs left after using a mandoline to make carrot matchsticks for Tuesday’s carrot salad. Chopped and roasted, who cares that they were odd shapes.
As I stretch to find more ways to serve veggies, medleys like carrot-parsnip mash expand the possibilities.
Whence the parsnip
My introduction to parsnips came via Julia Child’s French Chef cook book and its duck dinner with parsnip puree in zucchini boats. It was delicious but a production.
Skip the squash boat for everyday and just eat the parsnip puree. The Fruit Guys quote Julia on parsnips: Simply steam parsnips, then purée with a “modest amount of cream” (½ cup) and “correct the seasoning.”
Parsnips were a staple in the English diet before the potato appeared on the scene, an American immigrant. Their ubiquity spawned the proverb that “fine words butter no parsnips“.