RECIPES

Roasted Root Vegetables with Honey and Parsley

Roasting is a great way to cook root vegetables as they’re robust enough to cope with the intense heat, and the honey helps draw out the most wonderful flavours. This recipe also makes life much easier on Christmas day as all the preparation can be done well in advance so there’s really nothing to them. Just make sure that all your vegetables are roughly the same size to ensure even cooking. Any leftovers can be blitzed with stock for an instant soup.

Serves 8-10

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
3lb / 1.5kg carrots, trimmed and halved lengthways
3lb / 1.5kg large parsnips, trimmed, quartered and cored
3 tablespoons clear honey
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Place the oil in a large roasting tin and add the carrots and parsnips, tossing until well coated. Season generously. Roast for 30 minutes, then drizzle over the honey and toss to coat evenly. Roast for another 10 minutes or until the vegetables are completely tender and lightly charred. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and parsley and toss gently until evenly coated.

To Serve Tip the roasted root vegetables into a serving dish and place directly on the table so that people can help themselves.

Tip Try using any combination of root vegetables you fancy. However, it’s probably worth remembering that beetroot will stain all other root vegetables, so it’s probably best to roast them on their own.

Pan Fried Sprouts with Chestnuts
Serves 8

This is one vegetable that is completely synonymous with Christmas. Overlook them at your peril. I find that they need a little spicing up, so I add chestnuts. They go down a treat.

Ingredients
450 g / 1lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 tablespoons oil
40 g / 1 ½ oz butter
2 red onions, peeled and sliced
200 g / 7oz chestnuts, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Seasoning

Method
Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil and add in the sprouts. Cook for 5-10 minutes until just tender and drain them. Keep warm.
Heat the oil and 1oz of the butter in a large frying pan until foaming. Toss in the red onions and fry over a medium heat for 5-8 minutes, until softened and golden. Add the sprouts, the chopped chestnuts and nutmeg and fry for a further 3-5 minutes until golden and softened. Season well with salt and pepper and serve with the rest of the butter

Tip
I find the sprouts cook better when they’re cut in half, but if you really want to leave them whole, then I suggest you cut a deep cross into the bottom of each, to make sure they cook evenly.
 

Perfect Roast Potatoes
Serves 6

The phones go mad on Open House whenever the subject of roast potatoes comes up, and this recipe is for all the people who ask that eternal question ‘How do I make perfect roast potatoes’. This is how!

Ingredients
3 tablespoons oil or fat
750 g / 1 ½ lb potatoes, peeled
Rosemary sprigs
Whole garlic cloves
Seasoning

Method
Cut the potatoes into even sized chunks and cook them first in boiling, salted water. Take out after 10 minutes and dry thoroughly. Slightly prick the outside of the potato with a fork.
Heat the oil or fat in a roasting pan in the oven and toss each potato in this hot oil
Scatter the rosemary and the garlic around the potatoes and place in a hot pre-heated oven 220?C / Gas 7. Cooking time will depend on the size of the potatoes, but 45 minutes is enough for an average size potato. Sprinkle with some sea salt just before serving.

Tip
Don’t be tempted to use butter for this recipe because it burns too easily, duck fat is particularly good though.