This is a delicious winter meal using a variety of seasonal root vegetables. We will definitely be having this stew more often over the winter.

Winter Root Stew

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces sweet white onions
  • 1 cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 14 ounces carrots
  • 14 ounces parsley roots
  • 10 ounces rutabaga
  • 7 ounces parsnip
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes
  • 1/2  cup white wine
  • 1/2  teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup sunflower seeds or pine nuts
  • 1/2 cup black olives, without the stone
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • few  sprigs parsley

Winter Root Stew

Directions:

  1. Remove the skin from the onions and chop in rather thick slices.
  2. Slice the pepper, remove the seeds and slice into smaller pieces.
  3. Peel the carrots and parsley root and slice them into 1/2 inch slices.
  4. Peel and slice the rutabaga also into 1/2 inch slices.
  5. Heat the oil in a medium frying pan and sauté the onion and pepper until glassy and soft, then remove from the heat. (about 2 minutes)
  6. Steam the prepared root vegetables al dente.
  7. In a bowl, mix the crushed tomatoes, cinnamon, wine, raisins, salt and pepper.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350 F / 177 C.
  9. Place the tomato mixture in a large casserole dish that has a lid.
  10. Add the steamed vegetables to the tomato mixture and gently mix to coat evenly.
  11. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
  12. Once soft, remove the lid, add the rosemary, olives and sunflower seeds or pine nuts.
  13. Bake for 10 minutes longer without the lid to lightly brown some of the vegetables.
  14. Chop the parsley.
  15. When the vegetables are cooked, remove from the oven.
  16. Serve the dish garnished with the parsley and a lovely whole grain bread on the side.

Notes:

In the photo for this recipe a few ingredients are missing as we didn’t have them available when we prepared the meal for the photo shoot.

Both the parsley root and the rutabaga were new vegetables for us to use. We really enjoyed the flavors of both of them and are hoping to grow them next year in the garden.
As an alternative to steaming, you could bake the vegetables for about an hour and a half to an hour and forty minutes in the oven.