One-Pot Mashed Parsnips & Pears

Parsnips with pears is a very classic combination. I will cheerfully concede that parsnips are better roasted than boiled, but I wanted the have this dish on the table and I wanted it, if not "now", then at least "30 minutes from now" and that meant boiling. By allowing the cooking water to evaporate and the parsnips to brown in the remaining butter I did get some of the benefits that roasting would have provided.

This is a very sweet vegetable dish and best served with roast pork or turkey, in my opinion. I also think that means the pepper should be applied with a particularly generous hand. I served it with cabbage and frozen snow peas cooked in a skillet; when the vegetables were turned out for serving I put in a thin layer of oil and fried up slices of peameal bacon. They cook so fast they were ready by the time everything else was on the table.

Pears can be hard to find, and by now the only ones available will be Bosc. They do very well in this dish so no worries.

4 servings
20 to 30 minutes prep time

450 grams (1 pound) parsnips
1 cup water
2 medium Bosc pears
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 or 2 pods green cardamom
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
the juice of 1/2 small lemon

Peel the parsnips and slice them fairly thinly. Put them in a pot with the water and bring them to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes or so, until they begin to be tender when poked with a fork. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile peel, core, and chop the pears. Add them, with the butter to the parsnips. Crush the cardamom and discard the papery green hull, then grind the seeds and add them. Grate in the ginger and season with salt and pepper - be generous with the pepper.

Continue cooking and stirring more frequently as the water evaporates and the parsnips and pears begin to cook in the butter. Cook for another 5 to 15 minutes until the parsnips are very tender and ideally a bit browned. Mash the parsnips and pears, and mix in the lemon juice. Serve at once.





Last year at this time I made Leek & Carrot Soup.

Posted in: Ontario Food