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Butter-roast parsnips with hazelnuts and sage

Name: Butter-roast parsnips with hazelnuts and sage
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 60 min
Yield: Serves 8-10
Cuisine: British recipes
Ingredients: 1kg parsnips, scrubbed clean (no need to peel); 1 tbsp vegetable oil; 50g unsalted butter; 10 sage leaves; 50g blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped; 1 tbsp runny honey

By: Tom Shingler
Head of food, delicious.

Published: 28 Oct 24
Updated: 11 Mar 25

Butter-roast parsnips with hazelnuts and sage

Dish up your best-ever roast parsnips this Christmas. Parsnips deserve better than to be cut into little pieces, roasted until dried out and burnt in places and left looking sad on the table. Treat them right and they’ll give the roast potatoes a run for their money. Crisp sage leaves complement the texture and flavour of these sweet root veg, while a scattering of toasted hazelnuts provides crunch.

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Easy
November 2024

Test kitchen approved

Serves 8-10
Hands-on time 15 min. Oven time 30 min, simmering time 10-15 min

Get our definitive Christmas dinner menu, including best-ever versions of all the classics.

Nutrition: Per serving (for 10)

Calories: 162kcals
Fat: 9.7g (3.1g saturated)
Protein: 2.6g
Carbohydrates: 14g (7.4g sugars)
Fibre: 5g
Salt: 0.2g

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Before you start

Why these are the best parsnips
Size matters: Try to buy parsnips that don’t taper off to a thin point at the end, as they’ll shrivel and burn long before the thicker end finishes cooking. It also means you can keep them in long halves rather than chopping them up to get an even thickness – which looks more appealing at the table.

A head start: Boiling the parsnips before they go in the oven cooks them through and means less time in the oven, preventing wrinkled, leathery, burnt bits. It also means you can leave them unpeeled, which helps lock in the moisture and gives them a delightfully fudgy texture.

Hob, then oven: Using a flameproof roasting dish or pan means you can give the parsnips a quick sear over the hob, rolling and tossing them in the butter, before they go into the oven. This means they’re fully coated in fat and will cook evenly while roasting.

Aroma & crunch: Crispy sage leaves are the perfect, simple garnish for parsnips, infusing the butter with their aroma. A scattering of toasted hazelnuts provide welcome crunch, emphasising the root’s nutty sweetness while they’re at it.

Make ahead: You can boil the parsnips up to 2 days in advance and leave in the fridge until ready to finish. Just give them a few minutes longer on the hob in step 3 so they warm through before going in the oven. Pre-boiling cooks the parsnips through and means less time in the oven, preventing wrinkled, leathery, burnt bits. It also means you can leave them unpeeled, which helps lock in the moisture and gives them a delightfully fudgy texture.

Before you start

Ingredients

1kg parsnips, scrubbed clean (no need to peel)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
50g unsalted butter
10 sage leaves
50g blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
1 tbsp runny honey

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Method

Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the parsnips to the water and cook for 10-15 minutes or until a knife easily slips through the thicker end. Drain and set aside. Once cool enough to handle, top, tail and halve lengthways.
Add the oil and butter to a flameproof roasting dish or oven-safe frying pan over a medium heat. Once foaming, add the sage leaves and fry for 1-2 minutes until shiny and translucent. Lift them out of the butter using tongs or a fork and leave on kitchen paper to drain.
Add the boiled parsnips, cut-side down, to the same dish/ pan and turn the heat up to high. Fry for a few minutes, turning so they’re fully coated in the butter mix. Transfer the dish/pan to the oven and roast for 20 minutes.

Scatter over the chopped hazelnuts, give everything a good shake, then roast for a further 10 minutes.
Drizzle over the honey, give everything a final stir, then transfer to a serving platter. Sprinkle with salt and garnish with the crispy sage leaves.

Recipe from November 2024 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 162kcals
Fat: 9.7g (3.1g saturated)
Protein: 2.6g
Carbohydrates: 14g (7.4g sugars)
Fibre: 5g
Salt: 0.2g

delicious. tips

You can boil the parsnips up to 2 days in advance and leave in the fridge until ready to finish. Just give them a few minutes longer on the hob in step 3 so they warm through before going in the oven. Pre-boiling cooks the parsnips through and means less time in the oven, preventing wrinkled, leathery, burnt bits. It also means you can leave them unpeeled, which helps lock in the moisture and gives them a delightfully fudgy texture.