Roasting the vegetables really brings out the flavour in this carrot and swede mash recipe. The perfect accompaniment to a roast dinner and two of your five-a-day.
My mother-in-law makes brilliant carrot and swede mash and for a while I’ve been trying to emulate it. I always failed. No matter what I tried it just lacked the level of flavour she could get.
Masterchef to the rescue
Then just before Christmas I was watching an episode of Masterchef: The Professionals and one of the contestants was making mashed potatoes. Rather than boiling the potatoes before mashing them, he roasted them. Apparently this gives them more flavour. It gave me an idea. If you can increase the flavour in mashed potatoes by roasting, then surely the same approach would work for carrot and swede.
So I gave it a go and… ta dah. All of a sudden the flavour that had been seeping out when I boiled the vegetables was trapped inside my yummy mash.
This approach does take longer as roasting the vegetables takes about on hour, whereas boiling only takes about thirty minutes. However, the actual time you spend working in the kitchen is the same.
Instead of peeling the vegetables before cooking, I roast them in their skins and then scoop out the insides before mashing. The vegetables will be very hot when you remove them from the oven, so unless you have asbestos fingers I suggest that you cook them a little in advance and allow them to cool slightly before peeling. You can then warm the mash through on the hob afterwards to ensure that it’s hot before serving.
Roasted swede skins – A little mid-cooking snack
The carrot skins aren’t worth doing anything with, but the swede skin is really yummy. I tend to have it as a bit of a healthy mid-cooking snack to keep me going until the meal is cooked (honestly, don’t throw them away, they’re really delicious).
Carrot and swede mash… or is it purée?
I may be being slightly incorrect calling this a mash, as I don’t actually mash it. I whizz it up with a hand blender to make sure that it’s really smooth. If you don’t have a blender then it would also work using a masher or fork, but may be a little more lumpy.
A family friendly food
This carrot and swede mash recipe is perfect for all the family regardless of age. The mash is very smooth so is even suitable for a weaning baby. All I would say is that if you’re going to do this, mash the vegetables and set some aside for any young children before adding any olive oil or seasoning.
It’s also suitable for freezing. Simply freeze it (in suitable portion sizes), defrost thoroughly in the fridge and then cook on a low heat on the hob until it is hot all the way through.
FREE GRAMS TO CUPS CONVERSION CHARTS
Subscribe to the Charlotte's Lively Kitchen mailing list to get your FREE printable grams to cups and cups to grams conversion charts for twelve popular baking ingredients
Roasted Carrot and Swede Mash
Print Rate SaveINGREDIENTS
- 500 g carrots - about 6 large carrots
- 500 g swede - 1 small swede
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
- Pre-heat the oven to 220C/200C fan.
- Wash the carrots and swede (500g each). Cut the swede in half and lay the vegetables out on a baking tray.
- Bake the carrots and swede for about an hour until soft in the centre.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly until they can be handled.
- Scoop the centre from the roasted vegetables and place into a large bowl or pan.
- Use a hand blender to whizz the vegetables until smooth (if you don't have a hand blender then you can also use a blender, masher or fork to achieve a similar effect).
- Add the olive oil (1 tsp).
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Whizz (stir) to ensure that the oil and seasoning are evenly distributed. If the mash has cooled slightly then reheat on a gentle heat on the hob until hot through.
- Serve.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans
- Gluten-Free
- Egg-Free
- Dairy-Free
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Fish-Free
- Crustacean-Free
- Mollusc-Free
- Celery-Free
- Mustard-Free
- Lupin-Free
Lita Watson says
The color of the dish looks so amazing 😀 So can you tell me how long will this dish last in the refrigerator ?
Charlotte Oates says
I tend to eat mine freshly cooked so I’m not 100% sure but I would imagine it would be fine for a couple of days. It should also be fine to freeze if you want to keep it for longer, just defrost it in the fridge when you want to eat it and reheat it.
Martha says
With the rutabaga, what do you do with the skin? It is always so waxy, I didn’t know you could eat it….do you season it with anything? Does it get crispy? When I was growing up in Wisconsin we had British neighbors that came every Thanksgiving with carrots and swede mash, and I make it to this day, but the veggies were always steamed to death, and i like roasted vegetables better. I want to try this, just wasn’t sure about the waxy skin on the swede. The other thing I miss about my British aunt is her mincemeat tarts…sigh. Thanks for sharing!
Charlotte Oates says
For the carrot and swede mash you cook the veg with the skin on but scoop out the flesh from the middle to make the mash. You don’t use the skins as they go quite tough (a bit like a baked potato skin) so your mash wouldn’t be smooth. I love the taste of the skins so eat those up as a snack seasoned with a little salt as I’m cooking but you could serve them up as a separate side dish too if you wanted (although they’re not the prettiest!).
Michael Coombes says
Hi All. We get a lot of Swede over here in the UK and it’s pretty much a staple part of the British Roast Dinner. We tend to boil it until soft and then mash with butter. Was looking for something new to try and came across this post. It may be better to par-boil the swede before roasting, the same as we would do for roasting potatoes. Hopefully that will speed up the softening process.
Martin @ The Why Chef says
Found this just doing a google search for carrot and swede mash! My nan says thanks – she loved as part of the roast I made her!
Charlotte Oates says
I’m glad she liked it, I find roasting the veg really help to bring out the flavour.
Debbie says
Just tried this and after nearly two hours in the oven, the swede wasn’t soft enough and was starting to dry out. You need to add a little oil during cooking not just after in order to retain the moisture in the vegetables.
Charlotte Oates says
Hi Debbie, I’m sorry to hear that this recipe didn’t quite work out for you. I’ve never had a problem with the swede not being soft after about an hour, but great tip with the oil if it does. It might also help to cover it with some foil if it starts to dry out before cooking completely.
holly says
Do you roast the carrots whole?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes I do.
Mel says
I love carrot and swede mash! Pinning now. x
Charlotte Oates says
Thanks lovely. It’s yummy isn’t it and goes with everything. I’m going to try carrot and celeriac mash soon too as Sarah suggested. Have you ever tried it?
Sarah @tamingtwins says
What a fab idea, I’ll definitely try the roasting. I love celeriac and carrot mash too.
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried carrot and celeraic mash before. I’ll have to give it a go sometime.
Amy says
You could also try steaming, that might help keep some flavour
Charlotte Oates says
Great idea, although you miss out on the roasted swede skins as a mid-cooking snack!
Christine says
i make mashed potatoes and carrots and my girls love them. I’m in the U.S., what is a swede? Thanks!
Charlotte Oates says
I had no idea it was called something different in the U.S. After a bit of googling, I think it’s what you’d call a Rutabaga. I hope that helps (I’d never heard of it before) if not then let me know and I’ll keep searching.
My youngest (he’s 2) loves this mash, although he can get in quite a mess with it!