Ease of Preparation: Medium
Yield: Serves 4-6
Brown Butter Parsnips with Truffle and Teff Polenta
Creamy parsnips are enhanced with the nutty toastiness of brown butter, then set atop a rich polenta made with healthy ground teff and perfumed with the luxurious aroma of black truffle.
Ingredients:
Teff Polenta:
- 2 cups (470 ml) water
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk
- 1 cup (240 ml) teff
- 1 cup (240 ml) finely grated Parmesan, plus extra to garnish
- ¼ cup (60 ml) butter, cold, cut into cubes
- ½ tsp (2.5 ml) ground cardamom
- Salt and pepper
Parsnips:
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil
- 6 large parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) coins
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- ½ cup (120 ml) butter
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) truffle oil
- 1 lemon, juice only
Garnish:
- 1 black truffle, to garnish
- Chives, finely sliced to garnish
- Reserved seasoned butter from pan, to garnish
Method:
For the Teff Polenta:
Add water and milk to a pot. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Add teff and cook until smooth, 15-20 minutes stirring often.
Stir in Parmesan. Remove from heat, stir in butter, cardamom and season with salt and pepper. Keep warm until needed.
For the Parsnips:
Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C)
Heat olive oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Sear the parsnips well on one side, 3-4 minutes without disturbing.
Flip the parsnips and add the thyme, garlic, rosemary and butter. Reduce heat to medium.
Baste the parsnips as they are cooking until crisp-tender, around 3-4 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to oven at until tender, 10-12 minutes.
Add truffle oil to the pan and baste for 30 seconds. Drizzle lemon juice over parsnips.
Reserve the parsnips and their seasoned butter in the pan until serving.
To Assemble:
Spoon polenta onto a serving plate. Garnish the polenta with grated Parmesan.
Transfer parsnip coins to the plate, cut side up. Drizzle a little bit of reserved seasoned butter from pan over the parsnips.
Finely grate fresh black truffle over the parsnips. Garnish with chives and serve.