Parmesan Baked Parsnips

This Delia Smith recipe creates crispy, golden-brown parsnips with a Parmesan coating. It can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance, or even prepared and then frozen. They should cook perfectly if allowed to defrost completely beforehand.

Ingredients:

• 1.25kg parsnips
• 175g plain flour
• 50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and freshly milled black pepper
• Groundnut oil
• A knob of butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200oC. Combine flour, Parmesan and salt and pepper in a mixing bowl
2. Peel parsnips with a potato parer, then half and quarter them lengthways in half across, ending up with smallish chunks. Cut out some of the woody centres.
3. Pop parsnips in a saucepan, pour enough boiling water just to cover them and add salt. Put on a lid, bring to the boil and boil for 3 minutes. Meanwhile, have a large tray ready.
4. When they are ready, drain them in a colander then drop them a few at a time into the parmesan mixture, shaking the bowl and moving them around to get a good coating. Once coated, move them to the tray. N.B. be sure to coat them quickly, as they need to be hot for the mixture to stick. If freezing for later, do so now.
5. To bake, place a large roasting tin in the oven to pre-heat with enough groundnut oil to cover the base, and a knob of butter for flavour.
6. When oven is ready, remove tin and place it over direct heat and, using tongs, place parsnips quickly side by side in the tin. Tilt tin and baste all parsnips with hot fat, then place tin in the over and bake for 20 minutes. Then, turn them over, drain off any surplus fat and continue baking for a further 15-20 minutes, or until they are crisp and golden.

Note: these can cook on the shelf beneath your potatoes.