I serve this in the Fall, mostly because root vegetables remind me of this season, and also because of the nice bright orange of the carrots are a color of the season. This side dish is always included in my Thanksgiving table as well.
If you haven’t had parsnips before, they have a unique flavor that is nice and sweet, and although they look like a white carrot, they are a bit more dense.
Roasted carrots and parsnips ready for the table
Ingredients:
3 medium-large parsnips and 5 medium-large carrots cleaned, pealed and cut into match sticks
2 slices of bacon
Tip: The first thing I do is stick the bacon slices in the freezer so they are easy to cut into small pieces, similar to the French “Lardons”
2 teaspoons of fresh herbs (or 1 tsp of dry)
I prefer a combination of fresh rosemary and thyme while my gardens are still producing herbs; after the first frost, or if you don’t have fresh herbs…dried thyme works great.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt (not ground)
A few black peppercorns
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Peel and cut your parsnips and carrots. Put the herbs, oil, salt and peppercorns into a mortar and pestal and smash it together. The course peppercorns and salt grains help to pull out the oils from the herbs. Grab the bacon slices from the freezer and cut into small pieces.
Ready to coat the veggies in the flavored oil and get cooking
Put the vegetables and flavored oil into a large bowl and mix it so that all the carrots and parsnips are coated. Put the coated veggies onto a cookie sheet with small sides (jelly roll pan) or into a lasagna pan (oil can drip onto the bottom of the oven if you don’t use something with sides). Lay bits of the bacon all over the top and put the pan on the top third of the oven.
Ready for the oven
Cook for 15 minutes, flip the carrots and parsnips. Cook for another 15 minutes and flip around again, then a final 15 minutes and they should be ready to serve. Make sure the bacon is crisp, and the vegetables should be browned on at least one side and tender. Taste for seasoning and add a bit more salt if needed.
Secret: When this is part of a large meal like a roast beef dinner or Thanksgiving, I put these into the oven at whatever temperature it is at, adjusting the timing. So if the turkey is in at 350 degrees, the veggies might take an extra 15 minutes until done.