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Apple and Root Veg Purée with Ginger and Red Peppercorns

Creamy, aromatic, and yet light in texture, this lovely root vegetable and apple purée is a perfect side to roast chicken or pork. Ginger, apple cider and apple chips all add their flavours and crunch for contrast.

Course Side Dish
Keyword apples, root vegetables
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

Apple Vegetable Purée

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes scrubbed, peeled and cubed, 3/4 inch cubes
  • 2 medium carrots peeled and coarsely chopped, 3/4 inch cubes
  • 2 apples cored and cut into cubes, 3/4 inch cubes
  • 1 red onion trimmed and coarsely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves chopped
  • 1 inch of ginger chopped
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup vegetable stock can substitute chicken stock, or my faux chicken bouillon powder
  • 1/2 cup apple cider plus more if needed
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • red peppercorns

Apple Chips

  • 2 Honeycrisp or Gala Apples
  • ground coriander
  • ground ginger

Instructions

Apple Vegetable Purée

  1. Preheat the oven to 425F
  2. Combine the sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, onion, garlic and ginger on a large baking sheet. If necessary, use two baking sheet to ensure that the vegetables can all sit in one layer.
  3. Drizzle the olive oil over it all. Toss to evenly coat with the oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, 1 tsp of each.
  4. Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes, rotating sheets if using more than one. Once you start to see the touches of golden brown starting to happen, you can remove from the oven. The potatoes and carrots will not be soft yet, even if the apples are.

  5. Transfer everything to a medium large stock pot. Add the stock, cider, and rosemary sprigs. Bring everything to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium and simmer till everything is softened. If you find that the liquid is evaporating before the veggies are soft, add more cider. There should still be visible liquid when ready for the next step. Remove the rosemary twigs

  6. Transfer everything to a blender or food processor. Alternatively you may use an immersion blender if you desire.
  7. Blend until smooth. If you find that it is too stiff to blend, thin out with more stock or cider.
  8. Return everything to the pot. Taste, and re-season with more salt and pepper as desired. Finish with a good grinding of red peppercorns.
  9. Garnish with Coriander Apple Chips.

Apple Chips

  1. Preheat the oven to 200F.

  2. Slice the apples, crosswise, into 1/8 inch thickness. I find a mandolin does the best job here. If you don't have one, use a very sharp knife and steady hand.

  3. Lay them out onto a parchment lined baking sheet, in one layer. Sprinkle with ground coriander and ground ginger.

  4. Bake for 2 hours, or until the apples have curled appropriately, and have dried out. They should feel dry and almost crisp. They will continue to crisp up on the cooling rack. Store in a sealed container.

Recipe Notes

Since you really aren't using a lot of stock in this recipe, this would be a great opportunity to pull out my Faux Chicken Bouillon Powder.  It is vegan, and easy to use!

This dish works wonderfully as a side to any roasted meat.

The apple chip recipe can be adjusted to be a great kid's snack using just cinnamon and a bit of sugar.

I state that this feeds four, but it could feed as many as six, depending on appetites.

Have extra stock or cider on hand to thin it out if necessary.