Getting vegetables perfectly crispy can be tricky without burning them, but it turns out all you need is one ingredient to get the perfect crunch.
Mary Berry has shared that the best way to make sure parsnips have a tasty crust is to coat them in semolina, a pale yellow flour often used to make pasta, pizza or bread.
In her cookbook ‘Love to Cook’, Mary said: “Crunchy sweet parsnips – the perfect side dish. The addition of semolina gives them a lovely crispy outside.”
Semolina has a low moisture content and will absorb the moisture from parsnips so they have a crisp outer surface while remaining tender on the inside.
This simple cooking method can be used not just on parsnips but also on other vegetables and is perfect to use on roast potatoes to give them a much better texture.
Method
To begin, peel the parsnips and cut them into five-centimetre chunks.
Place the parsnips into a pot of boiling water and cook for four minutes. Once the time is up drain the pot and leave the parsnips to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200C (220C for Fan or Gas Mark 7).
Add one tablespoon of sunflower oil is a roasting tin and place the tin in the oven for five minutes until it is hot.
Meanwhile, add the remaining sunflower oil to the oil then add the parsnips, making sure to toss them so they are fully coated.
Mix the semolina, paprika and thyme in a small bowl, then add the mixture to the parsnips and toss them about again until they are covered in the seasoning.
After the five minutes have passed, carefully take the heated roasting tin out of the oven and add the parsnips.
Place the tin back in the oven and roast for 20 minutes until they are golden and crispy. Halfway through the cooking time make sure to turn them.
Your parsnips will be perfectly golden and crisp once they come out of the oven.
