Pan-Fried Carrot and Parsnip Recipe - Noshing With the Nolands (2024)

FAQs

Should carrots and parsnips be parboiled before roasting? ›

Roasting Tips

Parboiling skin-on carrots and parsnips lets you soften them without them losing too much moisture.

While raw vegetables can often taste bitter, roasting them means that the dry heat of the oven helps caramelise the natural sugars within, resulting in the incredible sweet flavour of roasted carrots and parsnips.

Cooking instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan, then add the carrots and parsnips and toss to coat in the oil. Add the thyme, cinnamon, star anise and some seasoning. Cook over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes, turning the vegetables frequently, until golden brown and almost cooked through.

In my experience the carrots take longest to fully cook, so throw them in the pot first and let them get started while I finish cutting up the other ingredients.

You can skip straight to roasting, but parboiling the parsnips first will help prevent dry or chewy parsnips. To parboil, put whole or halved parsnips in salted, boiling water and cook for 8 minutes or until slightly tender.

There is, however, a trick to getting roasted carrots right. Undercook them, and the texture is tough and dense. Overcook them, and they're dry and wrinkled. The secret is to soften the carrots slightly by boiling them briefly before roasting.

Though they may seem pricey at $2.99 a pound, Tomizza says the seeds are much more expensive than carrots, they're more expensive to grow, harvest and pack and workers have to cut off the leafy tops by hand.

Parsnips are a type of root vegetable, closely related to carrots and parsley root. They're rich in several important nutrients and antioxidants that may improve immunity, enhance digestive health, and aid weight loss.

However, if parsnips have been allowed to grow too big or remain too long in storage, they tend to get woodier and bitter. Thus, it is recommended that larger parsnips be peeled and that the “woody” core in the middle be cut out before preparing.

Young, small parsnips don't really need peeling – just scrub clean and serve whole. Older parsnips should be peeled very thinly with a peeler or sharp knife, then chopped into evenly sized chunks. If the central core is very fibrous, this should be cut away.

Why are my roast carrots soggy? ›

There are several reasons why your roasted vegetables may be turning out soggy: The oven temperature was too low. In most cases, you want your oven at 400° or 425°F. The pan was too crowded.

Carrots: You can peel them if you want but it is not necessary. Parsnips: If the parsnips are really thick, cut them in half so they closely match the size of the carrots. Garlic: Keep the cloves whole and in the peel so they can roast with the veggies.

Both parsnips and carrots come from the same family, but where they differ most is their flavor. Parsnips have a sweeter, licorice-like taste with a hint of spice to them, as opposed to the carrot's sweetness that is more reminiscent of other types of winter squash.

What sets parsnips apart is their low-calorie content and high fiber, making them an excellent alternative to starchy vegetables like potatoes. In fact, for two centuries, parsnips were the primary source of dietary starch in the US before potatoes took over. But there's more to parsnips than just nutrition.

Just like with Roast Potatoes, part boiling them before roasting is the trick. Removing the core is the other trick. With these methods combined, my roast parsnips are soft and tender with no nasty stringy or chewy bits.

Blanching the veggies before roasting them may allow you to have less salt on the vegetables and for them to caramelize a bit nicely without burning. Sometimes I have burned vegetables when roasting them until they were tender. So try this — enjoy the bounty.

Some veg cook faster than others. If you are using 1 inch or smaller pieces, you may not need to parboil, but if you are using larger pieces you may wish to par boil for longer as the pieces get bigger. This lets you cook the interior without burning the exterior when you roast.

Peeled and pared parsnips will turn dark when exposed to the air, so it's important to cook them right away, or hold them in water with a bit of lemon juice added. Parsnips are best when they are roasted in the oven, although many like them steamed and mashed like potatoes.

Pop the carrots into the boiling water and blanch for 3-5 minutes, depending on the size. Remove with a slotted spoon and plunge into the bowl of iced water and leave for the same time the carrots were blanched, then drain and arrange on the kitchen paper-lined tray.