One of Two Veg

I described previously how Christmas chez Fractured Amy means a traditional English roast dinner. Thanks to scrupulous record-keeping over many festive seasons, I can say with some self-satisfaction that I have the production of the holiday feast pretty much down to a science, resulting in my judiciously calm demeanor this year. Another reason I am not panicking overmuch is that a roast dinner is, by its very nature, almost entirely gluten-free (apart from the Yorkshire puddings, about which more will be revealed tomorrow).

One of the side dishes to the annual repast is always Pear and Parsnip Puree, which DMR, in particular, enjoys with boundless enthusiasm. It is a luscious, smooth-as-silk bowlful of cream-colored goodness with a depth of flavour that makes people sit up and take notice. The taste is secretive and subtly aromatic, with a bit of booze and exotic spice thrown in. Remarkably, I sometimes entertain guests who have never previously experienced parsnips. Can you imagine never having these wonderful roots? They are one of my favorite things - a relative of parsley, don't you know. They are very ancient and were introduced throughout northern Europe by the Romans, who discovered that they (the parsnips, that is) thrived in cold climates.

I fancy that, like Agricola and his legions, I have converted more than a few people to parsnips in my time: if any dish could do it, this is the one. I think the recipe originally came from one of the early Silver Palate cookbooks, but my version was copied out on a legal pad many years ago and filed in the holiday dossier.

It can be made a day or two ahead because, like all purees, it reheats beautifully in the microwave. One less thing to worry about on the big day! The recipe feeds about 8 people, if there is lots of other food.

Pear and Parsnip Puree

• 3 large parsnips, peeled and chopped into small-ish pieces (about 6 cups total)
• half a stick of butter
• 2 ripe pears, peeled and chopped
• 1 tablespoon of booze (brandy is good)
• one-half cup of sour cream
• a pinch of allspice
• salt and white pepper (you could use black pepper, but it would add unsightly specks to the final mixture)

Fill a large saucepan with water and bring it to a boil. Drop in the parsnips like you are cooking pasta (those were the days!). Simmer them until they are tender and poke easily with a knife, which takes about 15 minutes or so. Stir them frequently, otherwise they will stick to the bottom of the pan and turn brown. Drain them and decant them into a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and saute the pears over a low heat. Add the brandy after five minutes or so and continue cooking the pears until they are tender. Add them to the parsnips in the food processor.

Whizz them around until they are smooth, smooth, smooth as velvet. Add the sour cream and the rest of the ingredients and whizz it some more. Taste for seasoning, but don't overdo it. I put the finished puree in a glass bowl, tightly covered with plastic wrap to prevent oxidation (if the top does discolor a little bit, whisk it up vigorously and nobody will ever know). It microwaves in no time at all and is delicious beyond belief.