beetroot fennel mash & crispy chipolatas

with pickled shallots

Good & Plenty were one of my mom’s favourite candies. I found them infinitely appealing - the bright pink & white cylinders, their perfectly smooth candy coatings (for my UK friends, this is what I’m referring to). The box that gave a satisfying rattle when you picked it up or tilted it. There was something appealingly retro about the logo and even the name. The smell that emanated from someone eating them however - repulsive. I sometimes dared to suck a few, tentatively rolling them around on my tongue as the sugar coating dissolved, then lurching to spit them out as soon as the licorice flavour ventured forth. I hate licorice. Good & Plenty, black licorice cords, the fancy one with a panda on the label (I always assumed that was Australian, but it turns out it is a Finnish make).

I avoided fennel for years because I assumed my dislike would extend to it as well; though not the same plant, it has a very licorice-like flavour. Oddly, however, I quite like it. I discovered this by accident when I came across sauteed fennel and onion and enjoyed the sweet, subtle flavour it added to the caramelised onion. I’ve since found many preparations of fennel that I love; a few fennel seeds in a hearty, garlicky batch of meatballs. Thinly sliced, parmesan-dusted, roasted fennel. Sauteed fennel and onion as a bed for slow-roasted salmon.

It’s not a natural friend of children’s palates, however. It seems as if it should be, as it falls on the sweet side of the vegetable scale and cannot be relegated to the forbidden ‘spicy’ category that my children wholeheartedly reject. Enter this mash recipe; I first started making a version of this when my eldest was a toddler - I was trying to introduce her to vegetables other than just the sweet, orange ones. I figured that beetroot and fennel are both still sweet-ish, and that she would love the colour from the beetroot. It worked, she happily consumed bowl after bowl of it.

There isn’t enough starch to call this a mash without the addition of some sweet potato. As I’ve developed this recipe I’ve dialed up the garlic and onion, in order to anchor things in a savoury spot. The mash still has a natural sweetness, which suits the savoury funk of an all-pork sausage with minimal seasoning; chipolatas are ideal here to maximise crispy skin, since a variety of textures is key. For the adults (or the adventurous child), pickled shallots bring both texture and some much needed pucker and punch to an otherwise deeply rich dish.

This feels simultaneously comforting and sophisticated, and paves an easy path to introducing new vegetables into your child’s diet. The jury is still out on whether my kids love fennel in all its forms as much as I do; if they do, let’s just hope they don’t take it as far as loving licorice candy.

Ingredients

• 1 fennel bulb, base removed and quartered

• 2 red onions, peeled and quartered

• 3 cloves garlic, peeled

• 1 large beetroot, peeled and chopped

• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

• 1 teaspoon thyme

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 57 grams (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter

• salt to taste

• chicken broth (or water, if you don’t have broth on hand)

  for the shallots:

• 1 large (or 2 small) shallot, peeled and thinly sliced into rings

• ½ cup (~120 millilitres) red wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon honey

• pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

2. Place mash ingredients on a baking sheet; toss with olive oil and a pinch of salt.

3. Place in the oven and roast for 35-40 minutes, until vegetables are just starting to brown and crisp at the edges.

4. While the vegetables are roasting, prepare the shallots; place shallots in a small bowl. Add red wine vinegar, honey and salt; stir well to combine. set aside until ready to serve.

5. Remove vegetables from the oven and set aside to cool.

6. While vegetables are cooling, prepare the chipolatas; preheat a medium-large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon olive oil or rapeseed oil to the pan. add chipolatas. Cook for ~10-12 minutes (follow package’s instructions if they state otherwise), turning every 3-4 minutes so that they get nicely browned on all sides.

7. Once vegetables have cooled, transfer to a blender. Add butter. Add a few tablespoons of chicken stock; blend. if the mixture won’t blend, add another tablespoon of chicken stock, stir and blend again. Continue to add chicken stock in 1 tablespoon increments until the mixture blends easily. Pulse for only 10-15 seconds, as you don’t want to overmix the mash.

8. Transfer to a saucepan and place over medium-low to reheat.

9. To serve, place 3-4 generous spoonfuls of mash on a each plate. Arrange 2-3 chipolatas on top of the mash. Garnish with pickled shallot.