Why root vegetables deserve a permanent spot in your kitchen

From October through to March, carrots, parsnips and beetroot are at their best in the UK, and they are among the few ingredients that genuinely stretch a food shop further. A kilo of carrots will feed four people generously as a side dish, or form the base of two weekday meals once roasted. They also keep far better than leafy greens: stored properly, most roots will sit happily for a fortnight or more, which means less waste and fewer midweek dashes to the shop.

Parsnips are the stand-out for flavour right now. Cold snaps in late autumn and early winter convert their starch into sugar, so a parsnip lifted in January tastes noticeably sweeter than one pulled in October. If you grow your own, leave a few in the ground until you need them and let the frost do its work.

A reliable method for roasting carrots, parsnips and beetroot

Roasting is the simplest way to get the best from a mixed bag of roots, and the method barely changes between them. Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan, gas mark 6) and put a large roasting tin in to warm for ten minutes while you prepare the vegetables.

• Carrots: scrub rather than peel if the skins are clean, halve lengthways, and toss in two tablespoons of oil. Roast for 30–35 minutes, turning once.
• Parsnips: peel, cut into finger-length batons and cut away any woody core from the thick ends. Roast for 35–40 minutes; they need a little longer, and a little more room, than carrots.
• Beetroot: trim the stems to 2cm, wrap each one loosely in foil with a splash of water and a few drops of vinegar, and bake for 50–60 minutes until a skewer slides through easily. Unwrap and rub the skins off with kitchen paper while still warm, then cut into wedges and return to the tin for the last ten minutes.

Season generously with salt and black pepper, then add herbs that can take the heat: thyme, rosemary, or a scattering of caraway seeds with the parsnips. Keep the tin uncrowded — if the vegetables are piled on top of one another they will steam rather than caramelise, and you lose the sweet, nutty edges that make the whole job worthwhile.

Leftovers become soups, mash and fritters

Roast more than you need. A tray of cooled roots is the beginning of several meals, and the flavour is far deeper than anything you would get from raw vegetables boiled in stock.

• Soup: soften an onion in a pan, add the chopped roast roots, cover with 700ml of stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Blend, then finish with a spoonful of cream or yoghurt. Cumin suits carrots, nutmeg suits parsnips, and a little horseradish lifts beetroot.
• Mash: mash roast carrot and parsnip with butter, a splash of milk and plenty of pepper. Beetroot mashes beautifully too, though be warned that it turns everything a startling shade of pink.
• Fritters: crush cold roast roots roughly, bind with a beaten egg and a spoonful of flour, then fry in shallow oil until crisp. Excellent with a fried egg on top.

A useful rule: roast vegetables freeze well for up to three months. Portion them into bags as soon as they have cooled and you have a ready-made soup base on hand for the busiest evenings.

Growing roots in pots, bags and window boxes

You do not need a garden. Beetroot is the most obliging of the three and will crop in a 20cm pot or a deep window box, though it dislikes being moved, so sow where it is to grow and thin the seedlings to 8cm apart. Carrots need depth rather than width: a 30cm-deep pot or a sturdy grow bag works well, and short varieties such as Chantenay or Paris Market suit containers far better than long types. Parsnips want a deeper run still, so save them for a bucket or a raised bed with at least 40cm of stone-free soil.

Sow little and often from March onwards — a short row or a small pot every three weeks gives you a steady supply rather than a single overwhelming glut. Keep containers well watered, as roots in pots dry out quickly, and cover carrots with fine mesh or fleece to keep carrot fly at bay.

Preserving the surplus

When the crop arrives all at once, a few simple preserving jobs will carry the flavour through to spring.

• Pickled beetroot: slice cooked beetroot into jars, cover with warm spiced vinegar (malt vinegar simmered with cloves, peppercorns and a bay leaf), and leave for a fortnight before eating.
• Chutney: a slow-cooked mix of grated carrot, parsnip, onion, vinegar, sugar and spices turns a glut into jars that keep for a year. Use a heavy pan and stir often so it does not catch.
• Storage: for unpeeled roots, twist off the leaves leaving a 2cm crown, then keep them in a cool, dark, frost-free place. A paper sack or a box of slightly damp sand works well. Never store roots with apples, which speed up spoiling.

Cooked roots freeze well in portions, and raw beetroot is best roasted before freezing. Everything else is at its finest eaten fresh, which is really the whole point of cooking with the seasons.