Sautéed Parsnips with White Wine and Thyme Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (2024)

FAQs

How do you cook Jamie Oliver parsnips? ›

Scrub the parsnips, then blanch whole in a large pan of boiling salted water for 5 minutes, then drain and steam dry. Tip into a large roasting tray, dot over the butter and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, toss to coat and arrange in a single layer, then roast for 1 hour.

Then, cut each side of the vegetable to approximately three-quarters of an inch. If you keep parsnips inside the air for far too long, they will oxidize, much like apples. To prepare parsnips before cooking, soak them entirely in a basin of water, including a bit of lime juice.

How to prepare parsnips. Young, small parsnips don't really need peeling – just scrub clean and serve whole. Older parsnips should be peeled very thinly with a peeler or sharp knife, then chopped into evenly sized chunks. If the central core is very fibrous, this should be cut away.

While raw vegetables can often taste bitter, roasting them means that the dry heat of the oven helps caramelise the natural sugars within, resulting in the incredible sweet flavour of roasted carrots and parsnips.

Some people like to cut the parsnips lengthwise and remove the woody core from them, but we've found that boiling the parsnips ahead of time helps cut down on the bitter taste of the core. After cutting the parsnips, place them in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil, simmering for five minutes.

If you are going to consume a large amount of parsnips then you should peel them. Parsnips contain a group of natural toxins called furocoumarins which can cause stomach aches if consumed in large quantities.

Steaming parsnips really lets their flavour sing – just make sure you cut out the inner core from older, woodier roots before cooking them.

Though they may seem pricey at $2.99 a pound, Tomizza says the seeds are much more expensive than carrots, they're more expensive to grow, harvest and pack and workers have to cut off the leafy tops by hand.

However, if parsnips have been allowed to grow too big or remain too long in storage, they tend to get woodier and bitter. Thus, it is recommended that larger parsnips be peeled and that the “woody” core in the middle be cut out before preparing.

What are some fun facts about parsnips? ›

Parsnip Facts

Parsnips originated in Eurasia. In ancient times, parsnips were a common food in many cultures but were eventually replaced by potatoes. Parsnips are considered a winter vegetable. They become sweeter after the first winter frost.

If you try to roast them through in the oven 100% of the way, you end up with shriveled, wrinkled remains. Instead, I find it's much better to par-cook them in salted water, since they'll tenderize without shrinking. This step can be done in advance.