Pass the parsnips please
New ideas for the heart of winter's harvest
Kia ora friends,
I hope that everyone had a memorable Matariki with friends and whānau, with good kai of course. It feels like there's been a lot to celebrate recently, and with the FIFA Women’s World Cup now well under way, the local festivities are certain to continue.
I’m going to keep things relatively brief this newsletter, as I’ve been full noise with life this week. But don’t worry, I still gotchu with some of those good good recipes you all came for.
My partner Alex absolutely HATES parsnips! I didn’t think someone could feel so strongly about a rudimentary root vegetable. But I’ve found that he’s not alone in the anti-parsnip camp - they can sometimes have a slight bitterness which is polarising. The question seems to be, as this person aptly puts it: to parsnip or not to parsnip? Well, I’m strongly on team parsnip, and being home alone this week, I’ve made the most of indulging myself with its long, creamy deliciousness.
Believe it or not, there’s more you can do with a parsnip than adding it as an afterthought to a roast veg medley:
Parsnips are excellent as a creamy base for winter soups - after sautéing a base of onion and celery in olive oil, toss through some chopped parsnip and garlic to caramelise a little before adding your liquid (stock, water etc.) and flavour boosters (herbs, spices etc.). You could also add things like cauliflower, leek, chickpeas or cannellini beans to bulk things out. Once everything’s softened and delicious, blitz until smooth and season to taste for bowlfuls of good. Top with some maple-roasted walnuts or pecans, or perhaps some chilli oil for extra deliciousness.
Parsnip chips (as featured on top of the cake pictured below - those ones are maple-roasted) are another easy way to cook with parsnips, making a delicious and healthy snack. Using a vegetable peeler, slice the parsnips lengthways into long ribbons, toss with some olive oil and bake in a single layer on baking paper-lined trays in a 160c fan-forced oven for 12-15 minutes until deliciously golden at the edges. Remove from the oven and they will crisp up into crunchy chips as they cool. Toss with some sea salt and black pepper and you’re good-to-go.
Parsnips have a natural sweetness, especially if harvested in the winter months - the sweetness develops in the ground following frosts. So they lend themselves remarkably well to sweet dishes as well as savoury. I don’t know why carrots have stolen the spotlight for so long in the cake scene, but just as grated carrot produces a deliciously moist cake, so too does the parsnip. If you have a favourite carrot cake recipe, next time you make it you could mix things up by using grated parsnip instead. I’ve been on a real plant-based baking buzz recently, so this week I bring you a vegan parsnip cake that celebrates the whole parsnip in style. My Parsnip, pear + star anise cake sees grated parsnip, grated pear and sweet licorice-like star anise combine in a moist, fragrant and lightly spiced Bundt cake, decorated simply-yet-stunningly with a glaze made with pear juice and star anise and finished with curly, crunchy maple-roasted parsnip chips. It really is winter in a cake.
Between now and my next newsletter, my cookbook Good Vibes will be out in the world! There’s still time to pre-order a copy - this guarantees you’ll be able to get your hands on one when it comes out. Hopefully I see some of you at the book tour events around the country - check out my instagram page or the previous newsletter for further details.
As always, thank you so so much to all of you who support my food writing through this newsletter & other avenues. Here’s two more pictures (taken by Aaron McLean) from the book to get you fizzing for the Good Vibes soon to come ~ Ultimate vegan burgers (made with tofu, mushroom, walnuts and beetroot - a burger that rivals any meat-based pattie!) and A-little-luxe overnight bircher (the easiest & yummiest make-ahead breakfast for fancy eating on-the-go). Will you be team gingerbread, fig & pecan or beetroot, raspberry, rhubarb & hazelnut?!
To celebrate the release of Good Vibes, I’ll be sharing one or two recipes from the book in the next newsletter, so stay tuned.
Much love,
Alby xx
This week’s MOOD BOOSTER:
Parsnip, pea + pistachio risotto
The making of risotto is a therapy unto itself. It forces you to attend, pause, take stock - literally. Chained to the rhythm of regular stirring, smells wafting upwards to greet and encourage your eagerness. My experiences of risottos have been varied, in a spectrum from thickened gloop to rice-y soup. This recipe aims to sit optimally in the middle, and it is worth knowing that risotto is meant to be cooked al dente (firm to the bite), so keep this in mind as you’re coming to the close. The secret to this risotto is in the parsnip purée - by stirring this in at the end, it mimics the creaminess that butter or cheese usually brings to a risotto. It’s a plant-based game changer to add to your vegan cooking repertoire.
serves 6 as a main
Ingredients:
Parsnip risotto
80ml olive oil, plus extra to serve
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
1 tsp sea salt, plus extra to taste
650g parsnips, peeled, ends trimmed and chopped into 2cm chunks
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp maple syrup
½ tsp cracked black pepper
1 litre vegetable stock
500g arborio rice
250ml white wine
Pea, parsley + pistachio pesto
250g frozen peas
70g roasted pistachio kernels, plus extra to serve
finely grated zest & juice of 1 lemon
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp capers
30g flat-leaf parsley leaves, from 1 medium bunch, plus extra to serve
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
75ml olive oil
½ tsp cracked black pepper
½ tsp sea salt
Method:
First make the parsnip purée for the risotto. Place 50ml of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sea salt and sauté for 5 minutes until the onion is starting to soften. Add the chopped parsnip and garlic, toss through the onion and cook for a further 2 minutes. Pour in 400ml water, increase the heat and bring to the boil. Once bubbling vigorously, reduce the heat back to medium, cover the saucepan with a lid, and simmer for 15 minutes until the parsnip is very tender. Remove from the heat and stir through the maple syrup and black pepper. Using a stick blender, blitz the parsnip with its cooking liquid in the saucepan to form a smooth purée; set aside.
For the pesto, place the peas in a bowl and pour over boiling water to cover. Leave for 5 minutes, then drain the water. To a food processor, add the peas, along with the remaining pesto ingredients, and blitz to form a relatively smooth, slightly chunky pesto; set aside.
To make the risotto, pour the vegetable stock and 500ml water into a medium-large saucepan. Bring to the boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low to gently keep warm as you make the risotto. Place a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat with the remaining 30ml olive oil. Once hot, add the rice and toast for a couple of minutes. Pour in the white wine and cook, stirring until the liquid evaporates. Now gradually add the warm stock to the rice, one ladleful at a time, continuing to regularly stir the rice until the liquid has evaporated before adding the next ladleful. Continue until all of the warm stock has been used - this process will take around 20 minutes. At this stage the rice should now be cooked to al dente, or just tender - softened but with a subtle bite. If you feel the rice is not yet cooked, just add a little more hot water and cook for a few extra minutes until you are satisfied.
Remove from the heat and stir through the parsnip purée, along with two-thirds of the pesto. Adjust seasoning to taste with extra salt, black pepper or lemon juice as desired.
To serve, spoon the warm risotto into wide shallow bowls. Top with dollops of the remaining pesto, a drizzle of olive oil, extra chopped roasted pistachios and finely chopped flat-leaf parsley.
Best of the season this fortnight (NZ):
Brassicas (cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts)
Kiwifruit
Parsnips
Lemons
Yams
Leeks
Celery
Pears
Kitchen music of the moment:
We were so spoiled in Ōtepoti this past week to be graced with the presence of national music legend Bic Runga, who performed at the town hall as part of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. She’s in the middle of a nationwide tour to celebrate 20 years since the release of her sophomore album Beautiful Collision. I have so much childhood nostalgia associated with this album, and the track below is one of my album highlights.
On the theme of tangata whenua musicians, if you haven’t heard of Teeks it’s time to listen up. His voice has the most beautiful timbre, as seen here in his cover of one of my favourite love songs of all time.
Interesting reads:
Further evidence to encourage us to place vegetables at the centre of the table
Next on my reading list - environmental lawyer and food systems change advocate Emily King writes on the best path forward to address challenges we face in the future of food in Aotearoa, in her new book Re-food
If you’re passionate about the food landscape of Aotearoa, check out this not-for-profit organisation doing some awesome stuff in the NZ food space.
A digestible look at the stats on recent extreme weather events
Some food for thought on the science of vegan baking, written by yours truly
My debut cookbook, Good Vibes: Eat well with feel-good flavours, is coming in August!! Click on the image above to pre-order your copy now!!