In my lovely veggie box last week were a bunch of parsnips. Big ones, small ones, chunky ones. The weather was slightly cooler, so I decided to make a dish that I could prepare in the morning and then put in the oven at night. It’s my take on the traditional hachis parmentier, and I think this works with almost any veg you could put in a mash.
First, brown the mince. I used it just like that, but I would add some garlic, spring onions, or chopped onion/shallot. This will be the bottom layer of the parmentier.
Cook the potatoes and the parsnips. Large chunks are ok, you’ll mash them up anyway. I used only a slightly bit less potatoes than parsnips, but I think this dish doesn’t need to much potato. Parsnips are quite rich on their own, and maybe you could even leave the potato out.
Season your mash. Use plenty of butter (or some of the cooking water). You can add some greens if you want to. I added curry powder and it could easily have done with some more of that. It’s a good combo, parsnips and curry powder. I think it’s important not to make your mash too dry, especially if you’re going to reheat it in the oven.
Put the mash in a generous layer on the mince. You could add a little splash of cream in between, to moisten things a bit. Or you could serve it with some creamy sautéed Chinese cabbage, as I did. In my opinion, it needs some greens to counter the earthy sweetness of the parsnips. My husband didn’t want them, but I ended up eating more than him, just because of that variation in taste.
Songs of Home 