I love every season but root vegetables and citrus make winter a particularly special time. Fresh herbs are important to my cooking and winter isn’t as kind to the herb garden, although rosemary never falters, and sage to a degree and thyme still have something to offer. Increasingly I find myself turning to lemon thyme – it does need some nurturing to keep it going but it’s worth it. While flavour is my driving force, there is something about really colourful food that is immediately appealing, which is why I include a range of root vegetables here. They need to be cooked through properly so keep an eye on them and adjust the timing to suit your oven you want them so tender they yield to the fork as you eat.
Ingredients
- 1 bulb garlic
- Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
- 500 g orange sweet potato, peeled
- 300 g purple potato, unpeeled
- 300 g parsnip, unpeeled if super fresh
- 2 cups (400 g) ricotta
- 1½ cups (120 g) grated parmesan
- 1 cup (280 g) thick natural probiotic yoghurt
- 1 free-range egg
- Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
- Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
- Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup (100 g) toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 3 tablespoons lemon thyme leaves
- ½ bunch chives, finely chopped
How to Make It
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan-forced). Lightly grease a 22 cm springform tin with olive oil.
- Place the garlic bulb on a piece of foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap up to make a parcel, then bake for 30 minutes or until soft and caramelised. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C (fan-forced).
- Meanwhile, using a mandolin or sharp knife, cut the potatoes and parsnip into 5 mm thick slices. Steam or microwave each vegetable separately until soft but not falling apart (3–4 minutes in the microwave as a starting point). Spread out on a tray to cool, keeping them separate.
- Squeeze the garlic out of the skins into a bowl. Mash with a fork with enough olive oil to make a paste.
- In a food processor, blend the ricotta, parmesan, yoghurt and egg until smooth.
- Transfer to a bowl, add the citrus zests and season to taste, then fold through the walnuts.
- Beginning with the sweet potato, layer half the slices over the base of the tin in overlapping layers. Scatter with one third of the thyme, then pour over one third of the ricotta mixture. Layer the parsnip over the ricotta, followed by another third of the thyme and ricotta. Add the remaining sweet potato and thyme, then spread with the garlic paste. Pour over the last of the ricotta, then layer the purple potatoes over the top. Place on a baking tray and bake for 25–30 minutes or until the top layer of purple potato is lightly coloured. If time permits, stand for 1 hour before cutting. To serve, spoon onto plates, drizzle with olive oil and scatter with chives.