During this time of year we hear plenty about cauliflower, beets, and carrots but we don’t usually pay much attention to other vegetables like turnips or parsnips. So I decided to shine a light on one of these lesser-known (but beautiful!) vegetables: turnips. In particular, scarlet turnips! This red root not only looks beautiful, but it’s full of flavor and not appreciated enough in my opinion, so I wanted to make it the star of the dish.
So how do you cook turnips? A very easy way to do it is by slowly cooking them in a flavorful broth. That’s exactly what I did in this recipe; the turnips are cut and placed into a pan with some onion and ground Szechuan pepper, then they’re covered with vegetable broth (I suggest using homemade vegetable broth if you can) and left to cook until soft. The end result is a sweet, buttery, soft flavor that’s then finished with some fragrant Meyer lemon zest & juice and fresh herbs. They’re so succulent and delicious, they’re perfect for the table as a side or an appetizer, and they look gorgeous on the plate.
I encourage you to make them, especially if you’re not very familiar with cooking turnips, as I’m sure you’ll love these. Turnips are also great to use raw in salads, to pickle or sauté. Use this recipe as a springboard and start getting creative.
If you can’t find scarlet turnips, feel free to use other varieties like red turnips, white lady turnips, or baby bunch turnips.
Use black or green peppercorns instead of Szechuan peppercorns.
Substitute Meyer lemon with regular lemon.
Option to add a splash of some white wine that has a nice acidity to it to the vegetable broth for an extra layer of flavor.
For this recipe you’ll need:
Cutting board
Chef’s knife
1 large pot with lid
Microplane or fine grater
These scarlet turnips can be served as an appetizer, a side dish, in a salad, or even over toast.
40ml extra-virgin olive oil
600g (about 3 large) scarlet turnips, peeled and cut in wedges or irregular shapes
80g (about 1/4 of 1 large) Spanish onion, peeled and layers separated
2g toasted Szechuan pepper
300ml vegetable broth
Sea salt, to taste
Meyer lemon zest
Meyer lemon juice
Fresh parsley leaves
Fresh dill leaves
Peel and cut turnips in wedges or irregular shapes of roughly the same size (option to leave the skin on for more color, but it’s s little tough).
Heat a large pot over medium flame and add olive oil, turnips, and onion. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring every so often. Season with salt and Szechuan pepper and cook for one more minute to infuse the oil with the pepper.
Add vegetable broth, cover, and cook on lower the flame. Cook for 30 minutes on low heat or until they soft. The turnips should offer no resistance when you insert a cake tester or a toothpick in them. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Serve on plates topped with Meyer lemon zest, a squeeze of Meyer lemon juice, and fresh parsley + dill leaves.
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