Amp up Your Side Dishes: Turnips with Green Olive Pesto

 

For people who love food, Thanksgiving is the seminal event of the year. It's like Christmas or Hanukkah come early! So much food. So many side dishes. Delicious, juicy turkey. But about those side dishes... if you're like us, you've probably had the same side dishes pretty much every year. Some of them are favorites, but it's always nice to try something new.

So, we tested out a Thanksgiving side dish that will really amp up your spread. These turnips are cooked briefly in boiling water and then tossed in a delicious green olive pesto. It's a perfect substitute for any starch on your Thanksgiving table, it's really easy to make, and it tastes great warm or cool.

We served these up with delicious Australian lamb chops, seasoned only with salt and pepper, and grilled.

Making the Side

Peeled and chopped turnips

Start off by peeling your turnips, just like you would a carrot, and chopping off the ends where the stem comes out. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil (really lightly salted, like, a teaspoon). While the water is coming to a boil, cut your turnips into cubes. You can do whatever size feels the best for you.

Cooking the turnips in boiling water

When the water is boiling, drop the turnips in and let them cook for about 5 - 8 minutes, depending on how big you've cut them. You want them to be soft, but not mushy. Try poking them with a fork to make sure they're the right consistency. Once they're done, drain them and rinse them off under cool water.

Green olives - the heart and soul of the green olive pesto

To make the green olive pesto, you'll need green olives, garlic, a red onion, some walnuts, and olive oil. If your olives are pitted, take out the pits, and drop the flesh into a food processor or blender. Roughly chop a quarter of a red onion, and add those, as well as two cloves of garlic and two tablespoons of walnuts to the processor.

Adding all the ingredients to the food processor

Pulse gently until a thick paste is formed, and then start to drizzle in the olive oil, pulsing continuously, until a nice smooth pesto is formed. Taste, and season with salt and pepper if necessary.

Adding all the ingredients together and seasoning heavily with pepper

Add the pesto and the turnips to a bowl together and add in a quarter cup of fresh chopped parsley and a lot of freshly grated pepper. Then, stir to combine. Taste and check the seasonings, and then feel free to serve warm, or let cool and serve cooled.

Turnips with green olive pesto, all mixed up, ready to eat.

As we mentioned above, we served these as a side to a nicely grilled lamb chop. If you want to do this as well (it was a nice combination!), simply pat the chops with salt and pepper and let rest for about 10 minutes.

Seasoning the lamb chop with salt and pepper

Then, grill the chops for about 4 - 5 minutes per side for medium rare if your chops are about 1.5 inches thick. Let rest for about 5 minutes before eating, and enjoy!

Grilling the lamb chop

The Result
The turnips with olive pesto is a great way to amp up your holiday spread. It's got a deliciously salty tart flavor that works perfectly with the slight sweetness of the turnips.

What are you serving this Thanksgiving? Let us know in the comments! If you have any family favorites, let us know what they are and how to make it and we'll try to feature it on the blog!

You might be featured like me!

Click through for the full ingredients list


Turnips with Olive Pesto

Adapted from: Mario Batali

A great way to amp up your Thanksgiving spread

Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min

(Serves: 2 - 4)

2 - 3 peeled turnips
1 cup pitted green olives
1/4 red onion
2 tbsp walnuts
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste