- 1 pound baby carrots
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- Sea salt
- Optional: a small pinch of cumin
- 2 large knobs butter
- 6 parsnips
- A small bunch of fresh thyme
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons honey
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- For the honey roasted parsnips:
- Preheat your oven to 425°F.
- Peel the parsnips, cut in half lengthways and then into quarters. Add to a pan of boiling water and parboil for 4–5 minutes.
- Place the thyme in a bowl and, using the end of a rolling pin, bruise well to help release the flavour. Add the oil and the honey to the thyme and season. Drain the parsnips and mix with the flavoured oil to coat.
- Roast in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until crisp and light. Don’t worry if the thyme stalks are looking quite dried at the end of the roasting – by the time the parsnips are cooked, they will have released all the flavour needed.
- For the baby carrots:
- Once your parsnips are in the oven move on to your carrots. Cut the tops off and wash. Put the carrots into a saucepan with water to just cover, add the sugar, 1 knob of butter and salt – these ingredients penetrate the carrots to make them soft and sweet – and cook until tender (about 15 minutes). A little pinch of cumin is fantastic with this. Serve topped with the other knob of butter.