Tony Jackman’s roast chicken and root vegetables. (Photo: Tony Jackman) 
Who loves parsnips? Anyone? And why is this magnificent root vegetable so overlooked? The same vegetable shelves that boast mounds of carrots rarely give much space or time to the parsnip, yet for me this is one of the most wonderful of all vegetables.
Supply and demand, I guess. We can’t force people to eat parsnips or ask for them in the stores. My guess is that many people have never bothered to try them, and that they are overlooked simply because a lot of people haven’t discovered their earthy flavour and rustic texture.
Do you know that, despite that texture, parsnips make the most wonderful mash, if you process boiled or steamed vegetables using a handheld blender? They come out so creamy that it’s hard to believe it’s parsnip, apart of course from the giveaway taste.
Anyway, for this recipe I decided to use the parsnips I’d bought – really thick, chunky ones – and added carrots to the mix as well as red onion. I would have added whole garlic cloves in their husks as well but had forgotten to buy some, so I used garlic powder instead. But I will add the fresh version to the written recipe below, because that would be preferable. But substitute garlic powder if you are as forgetful as I am.
The other benefit of this dish is that it is all cooked together in one oven dish, and it even makes its own sauce thanks to the chicken stock you pour into the base. The root vegetables are essentially cooked in that stock, underneath the chicken, while it roasts.
The key flavouring, other than garlic and the vegetables’ own intrinsic flavours, is fresh thyme, which goes well both with chicken and root vegetables.
I cooked this in my 25-litre air fryer oven, which is more like a smaller version of a big old oven, but smaller ones with drawers that pull out will not be suitable for this dish.
The dish you choose to cook it in should be deep enough to hold all the vegetables with the chicken on top, so that the bird covers the vegetables as fully as possible.
Tony’s rustic roast chicken with roasted parsnips and carrots
(Serves 4)
Ingredients
1 whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry
A little olive oil
1 red onion, sliced or in wedges
2 or 3 large parsnips, cut into batons
3 large carrots, in julienne strips
4 whole garlic cloves, unpeeled (or 1 heaped tsp garlic powder)
4 to 6 thyme sprigs, and 2 or 3 more for the cavity of the chicken
Coarse salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
200ml chicken stock (I used one Ina Paarman sachet dissolved in 150ml boiled water)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C (air fryer oven) or 200°C or higher (conventional oven).
Rinse the bird and pat it dry with kitchen towel. Season the cavity with salt and black pepper, and season the outside all over as well.
Drizzle olive oil over the bird on all sides. Push some thyme sprigs inside the cavity.
Oil the bottom of an oven dish and place the parsnip batons and carrots in, and 2 or 3 thyme sprigs. Season with salt and pepper. Add the red onion rings and garlic cloves and the remaining thyme sprigs.
Pour the stock over the vegetables.
Place the chicken on top and put it on an oven rack low enough in the oven for the top of the bird not to touch an element above it.
Roast at 180°C or 200°C for up to 90 minutes or until the skin is crisp and juices run clear when a skewer is inserted through the thickest part of the flesh, all the way to the bone. It will cook quicker in an air fryer oven. Garnish with fresh thyme. DM
Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.
Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.