The last time I found salsify – those long, mud-encrusted roots – in the market I scrubbed them, cut them into pieces the size of a cork and cooked them in a little water, butter, lemon juice and tarragon. We ate them as a dish on their own, rather than cooking them around the Sunday roast as I had intended, and jolly good they were, too. The trace of oysters Ihad been promised was nowhere to be tasted, but there was adefinite note of Jerusalem artichoke (no, not that note) and a pleasing gentleness.
You won't find the long roots of salsify nor its sister, the black-skinned scorzonera, in many shops, but Iam sensing a renewed interest in them. Difficult to grow successfully for yourself unless you have very fine soil, they appear, mostly from Holland, with a little of the dusty earth they like to grow in, and often packed in waxed paper. They need peeling and must be dropped immediately into water in which you have squeezed a generous splash of lemon juice. They discolour quickly.
The best use for salsify I have come across is the blissful parcels Jeremy Lee makes at Quo Vadis in Soho, where the blanched roots are smothered in parmesan and rolled in filo pastry. But they don't exactlymind being baked in cream and parmesan either.
Salsify's pale ivory flesh, and the way it makes a velvety purée when boiled and mashed with butter and a little cream, reminds me of artichokes. The wind-inducing roots rather than the green-globe variety. They are in season and I have been tucking in. Soup, of course, but they make a cracking good roast, too, either with garlic cloves and lemon or tucked around beef or pork as it spits and pops in the oven. This time I let them crisp up with sausages and garlic for a rough-and-ready dinner of toasted roots and glistening pork.
Salsify with toasted pumpkin seeds, garlic and chives
Salsify will stand up to surprisingly robust seasoning such as this herb sauce. Made with garlic that has been slowly cooked until soft and mild, this works either as a main dish or as an accompaniment for fish or chicken.
Serves 2, or 4 as a side dish
lemon 1
salsify 400g
For the sauce:
garlic cloves 6 large
olive oil 8 tbsp
chives 4 tbsp, chopped
parsley a good handful
pumpkin seeds 4 tbsp, toasted
olive oil a little, for toasting the seeds
Spenwood or any hard sheep's cheese, 40g
Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice into a large bowl, add the squeezed shells, then pour in half alitre or so of water. This will prevent the prepared salsify from browning. Wash, peel and trim the salsify, then cut each long root into four or five pieces, dropping them into the bowl of acidulated water as you go. Place a steamer on to heat up, then steam the salsify for 10-15 minutes until tender. (Alternatively cook them in lightly salted boiling water.)
Peel the garlic, then put it into asmall pan with the olive oil and leave it to cook for 10 minutes or longer over a gentle heat until golden and the inside is soft and sweet.
Put the garlic and its cooking oil into a food processor with the chives, parsley and half of the pumpkin seeds and blend till you have a roughly textured, bright green dressing. Season with salt and black pepper.
Toast the remaining pumpkin seeds, with just a little oil, until they smell warm and nutty and have coloured slightly. Drain the salsify, empty the water from the steamer and use the pan to briefly warm the dressing and salisfy together for a minute or two over a moderate heat. Add the toasted pumpkin seeds, a few shavings of cheese and serve.
Salsify with toasted dill crumbs
A rather cute little side dish, the salsify soft and tender within its herb crust.
Serves 2 as a side dish
lemons 2, one for the zest, one to serve
salsify 250g
breadcrumbs from a ciabatta roll, 100g
dill a handful, chopped
mild smoked paprika 1 tsp
eggs 2
olive oil for frying
Grate the zest from the lemon and set aside. Wash and peel the salsify and drop them into a bowl of generously acidulated water. (Use the juice of the lemon with 500ml of cold water.) Cut each root into four, them steam or boil for 10minutes, till tender.
Blitz the bread to coarse crumbs in a food processor, then add the chopped dill, salt and pepper, the reserved lemon zest and the paprika. Break the eggs into a shallow bowl and beat lightly. Tip the crumbs into ashallow bowl or on to a plate.
Roll the salsify first in the egg and then in the crumbs. Warm a shallow layer of oil in a frying pan over amoderate heat, then fry the crumbed salsify till the crumbs are pale gold and crisp. Serve hot, with lemon.
Artichokes, shallots and sausages
Trimmed and peeled and tucked around the beef, the artichoke makes a splendid accompaniment to the Sunday roast. But it can stand up as a main course ingredient too (though you probably won't want too many) when cooked with sausages and sweet onions.
Serves 2 as a main dish
banana shallots 4
olive oil 4 tbsp
sausages 6, good and plump
Jerusalem artichokes 500g
Fry the shallots in the olive oil then lift out and set aside. Peel and halve the shallots lengthways. Break each sausage into three. Peel the artichokes and cut them in half lengthways.
Warm the oil in a large shallow pan. Add the shallots, cut-side down, and let them brown lightly, then turnand briefly cook the other side. Lift them out of the pan and set aside.
Place the artichokes, cut-side down, in the pan and cook till lightly coloured on the underside, then add the sausages and continue cooking, turning occasionally, till all is crispand tender. Return the shallots to thepan and let them warm through,then divide, hot andsizzling, between two plates.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk. Follow Nigel on Twitter @NigelSlater
