Turnip Recipe from Katie

Hi Everyone,
I would like to echo everything Tamara said. This is my second year as a CSA member. I love discovering vegetables that I would never buy in a grocery store and learning how to cook them. I don't think I'd ever bought turnip in my life, until last year I found myself looking at a whole bag of them from the CSA. I had no idea what to do with them. So, I turned to my trusty meatless Italian cookbook, and found a recipe that is really fabulous (what isn't good with garlic and olive oil?) Since it's turnip season, I want to share it with you.

Katie


Rape Bianche/ White Turnips
from Carnevale Italiano, The Romagnolis’ Meatless Cookbook (p.222)
1 ½ to 2 lbs small white turnips
2 quarts water
3 teaspoons salt
2 garlic cloves
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Freshly ground pepper
2 Tablespoons chopped turnip greens (optional)

Peel the turnips. Washing and saving the leafy tops (if any, and cut into wedges).
Cook the cut-up turnips in the boiling salted water 10 minutes or until just tender. Drain well.

Sauté the garlic in the olive oil in a large frying pan until golden and then discard the cloves. Add the drained turnips, the chopped parsley, and abundant pepper. If your turnips come with greens, chop the tops and add to the turnips with the parsley. Sauté over high hear 5 to 10 minutes or until the turnip wedges are lightly browned around the edges. Serve hot. For 6.

My adaptation: I tend to be a lazy and forgetful cook. When I did this off the top of my head the other day, I simply sliced the turnips very thin, and tossed them in the pan with the garlic in the olive oil. When they were starting to brown, I tossed in the chopped up turnip tops. I skipped the boiling water and the parsley, and thought it came out just great. I added this to my salad. It would also be great as a side dish or tossed with small shaped pasta.