Gill Meller’s roast parsnips with blackberries, honey chicory & rye flakes is a tray sent straight from heaven
“The last of autumn’s blackberries are ripe, salacious and full of flavour. In this gorgeous, colourful salad, I tumble the berries through a tray of roasted early winter parsnips, where they burst in the hot honey and olive oil, and are cut through by the bitterness of red chicory. A scattering of rye flakes adds a nutty crunch, which I really love”.
Ingredients
• 4 parsnips, quartered lengthways and cored
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 heaped tablespoons rye flakes
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon runny honey
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 2-3 thyme sprigs
• 2-3 rosemary sprigs
• 100g blackberries
• 1 firm red chicory, leaves separated
• salt
• freshly ground black pepper
Method
1 Heat the oven to 180°C.
2 Place the parsnip quarters in large roasting tray. Combine the olive oil, rye flakes, Dijon mustard, honey and cider vinegar in a bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well, then pour mixture over the parsnips and tumble them to coat thoroughly.
3 Tear over the thyme and rosemary, then place the roasting tray in the oven and roast the parsnips for 40–45 minutes, turning once or twice with a spatula, until they are tender in the middle and crisp and caramelized on the outside
4 Remove the parsnips from the oven, then scatter the blackberries and chicory leaves over them.
5 Set aside to cool for 5–10 minutes, then serve as a warm salad with fresh bread, or as an accompaniment to good sausages, duck, or pork chops.
Recipe and image courtesy of Gill Meller, extracted from Gather
