This may sound like a grim dish in a grim vegetarian cafe, but it is not. Unfortunately I have not been able to think up a more tempting name for this delicious dish yet. It calls out to be eaten with roast lamb.
I had a great time this weekend at the annual Cupcake Smackdown helping little children fire cupcakes at zombies, watching my friend Paul down Jaffa Cakes at an amazing speed in an attempt to break the world record, and the general fun of being around a lot of great people.
Growing up, my family never ate turnips. It’s not that we had an aversion to them or anything, there was just never a good reason to pick a lowly turnip over the potato, king of root vegetables. As a matter of fact this is only the second time I’ve ever cooked turnips, the first being for the Lamb’s Tongues, Turnips, and Bacon recipe I made a few years back. Even then I admonished myself to use them more often. I should probably start paying attention to my own suggestions.
Now, this is right where there should be a picture of my lovely wife peeling the turnips. Or maybe one of her thinly slicing them on a mandolin. Or heck, even a picture of me thinly slicing an onion on our other mandolin would be nice. I can’t do show you any of those pictures because I totally forgot to take any. So in their place, here is a video of dueling mandolins. Enjoy.
Right.
In a pan over low heat I melted a bunch of butter. More than one stick, to be vague about it. Along with all that golden liquid fat went the thinly sliced onion, which I sweated until it was soft, sweet and clear.
Meanwhile my wife rubbed roughly three tablespoons of butter onto the insides of a deep, oven-proof pan. Oh, my poor cardiovascular system!
Into that pan went a layer of the sliced turnips followed by the now softened onions and a little salt and pepper.
On top of that went another layer of turnip slices, more onions, and more seasoning.
We kept layering the turnip and onion until both amounts were exhausted. I poured the butter left over from sweating the onion on top. Waste nothing!
The pan went into a hot oven for an hour, covered with foil to keep the moisture in. When the timer started dinging, I checked in on the turnip mound we had constructed only to find that it needed more time.
The pan went back into the oven for an extra 15 minutes. A quick check and back in it went. We kept checking for another 45 minutes until finally the turnip bake was nice and brown as you can see above.
A hearty slice of the finished product. I believe that this is a great side dish for more than just roast lamb. The slightly woody, bitter nature of the turnip is significantly diminished with the sweetness of the softened onions and all the soaked up butter, meaning that paring with pretty much any protein is simple.
Two years ago I told myself to start making more turnip dishes. This amazing recipe only serves as a reminder that when cooked right, turnips sure are delicious (though I’m sure all that butter didn’t hurt, either).
One down, forty nine to go.
A number of years ago I made a turnip soufflé that was so good I still remember the taste and texture. I haven’t made it again because I just get turned off by the hard work of peeling and cubing/dicing those hard turnips. I’m getting older and my hands are not as strong as they used to be. I still recommend it, and there are a number of recipes floating around the internet. Search for ‘turnip souffle’.
I’ve made this one, and agree that it should be in the regular rotation, especially in the winter. Luckily I have the CSA to send me turnips, or I probably wouldn’t buy them either. But cooked right, they are every bit as delicious as potatoes.
Wonderful dish…I have not really spent much time with turnips in the kitchen, very inspirational
This was the first recipe I made out of “Nose to Tail,” and I really liked it. The butter in it is quite a lot, though – my lips were certainly shiny after eating it.
I think alternating the neeps with some tatties would make this even better, but then again, I was raised on mashed turnips and potatoes mixed, so I might just be predisposed to that flavor.
Keep up the good work!