The sweet-flavored parsnip has at various times been added to sweet dishes, especially in the Tudor period when sugar was expensive. This dish has a creamy taste and the consistency of lemon curd. In springtime, it was traditionally decorated with sugared primroses.
Ingredients:
8 oz. short crust pastry
1 ½ lbs. parsnips, peeled and chopped.
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon mixed spice or can use pumpkin pie spice.
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
2 large egg yolks
Juice and grated rind of 1 large lemon
Method:
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Roll out the pastry and line an 8-inch pie plate with it. Trim the edges and put to one side.
- Boil the parsnips until soft. (Remove the woody center from old vegetables before cooking.) Drain well and mash to a soft pulp. Add the honey, spices, egg yolks, grated rind, and juice from the lemon. Mix well and spoon into the pastry.
- Cut the trimmings of pastry into thin strips and make a lattice pattern across the top of the pie.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30-35 minutes until golden-brown.
- Allow the pie to cool before eating. Serve with cream.
Adapted from a recipe in "Farmhouse Cookery - Recipes from the Country Kitchen