Root Vegetable Purée Recipes

ROOT VEGETABLE PUREE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the carrots, parsnips, turnip and sweet potato with the olive oil and place the vegetables on a large baking sheet. Roast until tender, about 30-45 minutes, turning frequently. Set aside to cool.
• Peel the sweet potato. Finely chop all of the roasted vegetables and transfer to a large saucepan.
• Add the celery root, mace, nutmeg, thyme, broth and Sherry vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Transfer to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Add the salt and pepper. Serve with the veal shanks.

ROOT VEGETABLE PURéE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan cover rutabagas and carrots with salted water. Bring water to a boil and simmer, covered, until vegetables are very tender, 40 to 50 minutes.
• While rutabagas and carrots are simmering, peel potatoes and cut into 1/4-inch pieces. In another large saucepan cover potatoes with salted water. Bring water to a boil and simmer potatoes, covered, until tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Drain rutabagas and carrots well in a large sieve and in a food processor puree until smooth. Drain potatoes well in sieve and force through a ricer or food mill fitted with a medium disk into a large bowl. Stir in rutabaga-carrot puree, butter, and salt and pepper to taste and combine well. Puree may be 3 days ahead and chilled, covered. Reheat puree before serving.

SAVORY MASHED ROOT VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Place all the vegetables and garlic in a large pot and fill with cool water to cover; season with a teaspoon of salt. Bring to boil over medium heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are very tender.
• While the vegetables are cooking, combine the heavy cream, butter, and herbs in a pot and heat over low flame to melt the butter and infuse the herb flavor into the cream ¿ do not allow to boil. Shut off the heat, cover, and let steep until needed. When ready to use, remove the herb stems and the bay leaves.
• Drain vegetables and put them into a large mixing bowl. Mash with a potato masher. Stir in the warm cream mixture and mix until the liquid is absorbed and the vegetables are smooth; season with salt and pepper. Put the mashed root vegetables in a serving bowl, garnish with chopped chives and drizzle with a healthy dose of olive oil.

MARBLEIZED ROOT VEGETABLE PURéE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 2-quart baking dish. Cook potatoes, turnips, parsnips and pear in large pot of boiling salted water until very tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. Return to pot. Stir over low heat until excess moisture evaporates, about 1 minute. Add cream and 5 tablespoons butter and mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, cook carrots in another large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain. Transfer to processor. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• Alternate potato and carrot purees by 1/2 cupfuls in baking dish. Draw knife through purees to marbleize. Melt 1 tablespoon butter. Drizzle over purees. Sprinkle with additional nutmeg. Cover with foil. (Can be made 1 day ahead; chill.) Bake covered puree until heated through, about 35 minutes (or 45 minutes if chilled).

PARSNIP OR ROOT VEGETABLE PURéE

Steps:

• Any number of root vegetables can be used to make this purée. Parsnips alone make a sweet purée with a lovely creamy yellow color. Turnips cook quickly and make a loose nutty purée. Carrots, celery root, rutabagas, and kohlrabi can all be turned into a purée as well. Peel and cut the vegetables into large pieces. Cook in salted boiling water until tender. Purée in a food mill and enrich with butter, cream, or olive oil. Celery root and turnips, cut into smaller pieces, can be cooked in butter or olive oil, covered, over low heat without any water. Stir often and lower the heat if the pan starts to scorch.
• A purée may be made from a combination of root vegetables; celery root, carrots, and rutabagas make a delicious combination, and turnips and kohlrabi are also nice together. Puréed potatoes are especially tasty mixed with celery root or parsnip purée. When making combination purées it is best to cook the vegetables separately since they all require different cooking times. They can then be puréed together.

PURéE OF THREE ROOT VEGETABLES

Steps:

• In a kettle combine the potatoes, peeled and halved, the celery root or Jerusalem artichokes, and the carrots with cold water to cover and simmer the vegetables, covered, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they are tender. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid and drain the vegetables in a colander. Force the potatoes through a ricer into a large bowl or mash them in the bowl with a potato masher. In a food processor puree the celery root or the Jerusalem artichokes with the butter until the mixture is smooth and stir the mixture into the potatoes. Using the coarse side of a grater shred the carrots into the bowl and combine the mixture well, adding salt and pepper to taste and enough of the reserved cooking liquid to achieve the desired consistency. The puree may be made 1 day in advance and kept covered and chilled.

AUTUMN ROOT VEGETABLE PURéE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine the turnips, carrots, parsnip, sweet potato, and rutabaga, add a good pinch of salt, and cover by 2 inches with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Drain the vegetables and then return them to the saucepan to dry out over medium heat for 2 minutes. Transfer the vegetables to a food mill and puree. Add the butter and salt and pepper to taste, and reheat if necessary before serving.

ROOT VEGETABLE AND SQUASH PURéE

Steps:

• Butter 10- to 12-cup casserole. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Peel and seed squash and cut into 1-inch cubes. Peel remaining vegetables and cut into 1-inch cubes. Peel remaining vegetables and cut into 1-inch cubes. Add vegetables and bay leaves to boiling water; cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Drain vegetables. Discard bay leaves.
• Puree half of vegetables in processor with half of butter and half of cream, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Transfer puree to bowl. Repeat with remaining vegetables, butter and cream. Transfer to same bowl. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Transfer puree to prepared casserole. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before continuing.)
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake puree until heated and beginning to brown on top, about 45 minutes. Serve hot.

PUREE OF THREE ROOT VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Put all the vegetables in a large saucepan,cover with cold water and simmer, covered, 25-30 minutes or until tender; drain vegetables, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.
• Force the potatoes through a ricer into a bowl or mash them in the bowl with a potato masher.
• Puree the parsnips in a food processor with the butter; stir into the potatoes.
• Coarsely shred the carrots into the bowl and gently but thoroughly stir them in, adding salt and pepper to taste and enough of the cooking liquid to attain the preferred consistency.
• Can be made the day before and refrigerated; reheat in microwave to serve.