Well folks, we’re almost through it – just another month and winter is officially over. It’s been an exceptionally wet and cold one in Cape Town. My response has been to hunker down and find comfort in warming dishes celebrating the best ingredients winter has to offer. Like this winter root vegetable bake – think potatoes, parsnips, carrots and orange sweet potatoes. A bit of garlic, a sprig of thyme, some naughty cream… Hmmm.
I originally developed this recipe for one of my spice clients using their spices, but given that my readers are dotted all over the world I changed it to use only ingredients that can be found pretty much anywhere. This winter root vegetable bake makes a mean vegetarian main served simply with a leafy salad. It’s also an excellent veggie side, pairing really well with roast chicken, but also with lamb chops or steak. Hang in there, only 29 days to go until spring!
All you need is…
3 extra large potatoes, peeled
2 large orange sweet potatoes, peeled
3 extra large carrots, peeled
4 parsnips, peeled
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2 Tbsp salted butter
¾ cup cream
3 thyme sprigs
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Slice all the root veg as thinly as possible using either a sharp chef’s knife or a mandolin. Cream together the minced garlic and the butter. Dot half of the garlic butter on the bottom of a large ovenproof dish. Layer the veggies in the dish, giving each layer a generous grinding of sea salt and black pepper.
Pour over the cream and dot the remaining garlic butter on top. Add the thyme sprigs and cover with tin foil. Bake, covered, in a pre-heated 180 degrees Celsius oven for half an hour. Then remove the tin foil and bake for a further 30-50 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through. Once the root veg bake is done, turn the grill on for a few minutes to lend some crunchy caramelisation to the top layer of veggies.
serves
6
prep
30 min
cook
60+ min
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