Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Carrot and Parsnip Mousse(s)


Here is the last element of my Cuisine Cup dinner - individual puddings of carrot and parsnip, studded with spring onions. Made in little ramekins, they are beautiful - a bright orange splodge on the plate and a gentle mouthful of delicate sweetness when you try them. They are also really easy to make, and not particularly temperamental so your timings can be out by five or ten minutes and these will not spoil.

Carrot & Parsnip Mousse

3 large carrots
3 large parsnips
3 spring onions
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter + a bit extra for greasing the ramekins
Freshly ground black pepper

Peel and chop the carrots and parsnips into rings about a centimetre thick. They need to be cooked separately - so if time is more pressing than the amount of washing up you create, simmer them in two pans of salted water till they are tender. Fifteen minutes for the parsnips, twenty for the carrots. Or cook them one after the other in the same pan if you have started a little early.

Meanwhile clean and chop the spring onions - whites and the first centimetre or so of the green - into rings about a quarter of a centimetre thick. Grease the inside of four small ramekins with butter.
Drain the vegetables and put into one pan. Add the egg and the buttter and a generous amount of black pepper and process with a stick blender till you have a smooth purée. If you don't have a stick blender you can use a blender or food processor.

Stir the sliced spring onions into the vegetables.

Spoon the mix into the ramekins then put the ramekins into a baking pan. Half fill the pan with boiling water then put it into the oven on a middle shelf at Gas 4/180C for 20 minutes. If you are making them to go with the rack of lamb they cook quite happily on a lower shelf at Gas 6.

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