Roasted parsnips and sweet potatoes

A versatile dish, swap the ingredients for your favourite winter veg and add your own touch

Treat this recipe as a blueprint for an infinite number of roast vegetable dishes. The point here is to balance slow-cooked veggies with something crisp and fresh.

4 parsnips (700g in total) 4 medium red onions 150ml olive oil 4 thyme sprigs 2 rosemary sprigs 1 head garlic, halved horizontally 2 medium sweet potatoes (600g in total) 30 cherry tomatoes, halved 2 tbsp lemon juice 4 tbsp small capers (roughly chopped if large) ½ tbsp maple syrup ½ tsp Dijon mustard 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional) Salt and black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190°C/375°F. Peel the parsnips and cut into two or three segments, depending on their length. Then cut each piece lengthways into two or four. You want pieces roughly 5cm long and 1.5cm wide. Peel the onions and cut each into six wedges. 2Place the parsnips and onions in a large mixing bowl and add 120ml of the olive oil, the thyme, rosemary, garlic, 1 tsp of salt and some pepper. Mix well and spread out in a large roasting tin. Roast for 20 minutes. 3. While the parsnips are cooking, top and tail the sweet potatoes. Cut them (with their skins on) widthways in half, then each half into six wedges. Add the potatoes to the tin and stir well. Roast for a further 40-50 minutes. 4. When all the vegetables are cooked through and have taken on a golden colour, stir in the tomatoes. Roast for 10 more minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the lemon juice, capers, maple syrup, mustard, remaining oil and ½ tsp salt. 5. Pour the dressing over the roasted vegetables as soon as you take them out of the oven. Stir well, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Scatter the sesame seeds over the vegetables if using and serve at the table in the roasting tin.

Recipe from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi (£25, Ebury Press)