Is there anything better than fries? That crisp outside and instant dippability (it’s a word, shut up spell check). Actually anything that you can dip into a tasty sauce is pretty fabulous in my book (sweet potato crisps, popcorn cauliflower). These parsnip fries have a lot going from them, parsnips natural ability to caramelise is definitely one of them. The natural sweetness of the parsnip is so good with the spicy harissa sauce.

If you want to get really fancy you could crumble a little feta and scatter some parsley on top to serve but that’s optional as they’re good just by themselves or with the sauce. Winter is for comforting, warming food and these definitely tick those boxes. I’ve had a horribly busy last couple of weeks as I’ve moved house (yay natural light in my kitchen!) and work has been insane. My body has not been loving the stress (I found a white hair, my first ever, kind of freaking out) and I’m fully aware that it needs taking care of right now, so comfort food it is. Come at me fries.

Serves 2 Ingredients Fries 3 Parsnips 1 tsp oil 1 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp chilli flakes 1/2 tsp sumac salt and pepper Harissa Sauce 1 red capsicum 2 red chillies 2 cloves garlic 1 Tbs coriander 1 tsp sumac 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp chilli flakes 1 Tbs olive oil 2 Tbs lemon juice salt and pepper Optional extras: feta and parsley to serve

Directions Preheat oven to 220 degrees celsius. Line 1 small tray and 1 large tray with baking paper. Place capsicum in small tray and cook in oven until starting to blacken (this took 5 minutes in my oven).

Meanwhile, cut spindly ends off parsnip then chop the rest of the parsnip into long pieces of similar, 1-2cm thickness. Place all the parsnip in a pot cover in cold water, salt water and put on to boil. once it has come to a boil continue to cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and drain well. Toss in oil and sprinkle in cumin, chilli flakes and sumac. Place the parsnip on the large lined tray ensuring that pieces are not touching. Turn the oven temperature down to 190 (make sure you have removed the capsicum) and cook Parsnip until golden and crisp, 15-20 minutes, turning once during this.

Back to the Harissa sauce. You should have removed your capsicum from the oven, allow to cool until you can touch it then pull out the stalk, hopefully the seeds will come with it if not simply scrape these out to. Deseed the chilli and roughly chop then place capsicum and chillies in a blender along with all other sauce ingredients. Blend until you have a smoothish sauce, it’s fine if there are small chunks in it.

Serve: Parsnip fries with the harissa dipping sauce ( you can also sprinkle the optional feta and parsley over them) and enjoy a seriously tasty snack, meal or side!

HH. x HH. x