Either of these flavorful, earthy root vegetables blends with potatoes to make a beautiful accompaniment to so many saucy dishes. And what could be simpler? You cook the two together and mash them with a little butter and cream, and they’re ready.

　　

Ingredients

1 large parsnip, or an equivalent sized portion of a large celery root

　　1 equal-sized mealy baking potato*

　　Salt

　　2 teaspoons butter

　　A little heavy cream

　　

Step 1

Peel the parsnip or celery root, and cut it into large chunks. Do the same with the potato. Boil both in lightly salted water to cover until tender.Drain (and remove, if necessary, excess potato). Mash the root vegetable and potato together in the cooking pot, using either a hand masher or an immersion blender. Add salt, butter, and cream to your liking.

　　

notes

Step 2

*Baking potatoes, such as the russet, are best for mashing, but they are apt to be so huge when you buy them individually that you’ll probably use only half. Since you want equal amounts of root vegetable and potato for this purée, just remove the additional potato after you’ve boiled it and use for another purpose. Or make more of the dish than you need, and create a lovely soup with the leftovers.

　　The Pleasures of Cooking for One by Judith Jones. Copyright © 2009 by Judith Jones. Published by Knopf. All Rights Reserved.Judith Jones is senior editor and vice president at Alfred A. Knopf. She is the author of The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food and the coauthor with Evan Jones (her late husband) of three books: The Book of Bread; Knead It, Punch It, Bake It!; and The Book of New New England Cookery. She also collaborated with Angus Cameron on The L. L. Bean Game and Fish Cookbook, and has contributed to Vogue, Saveur, and Gourmet magazines. In 2006, she was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. She lives in New York City and Vermont.