Whalesbone’s Roasted Root Vegetable Stacks with Garlic Cream & Cheddar Crisps

stolen from www.ottawacitizen.com - I want to try to make this for a dinner party. Yummy!

Makes 6 to 8 stacks (serves 3 to 4)

- 2 large ruby red beets with skins on

- 2 long sweet potatoes, peeled

- 2 large red potatoes

- 2 large parsnips, peeled

- 1/4 cup (50 mL) extra-virgin olive oil

- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

- 1 cup (250 mL) 35-per-cent whipping cream

- 4 whole garlic cloves, peeled

- 1/2 cup (125 mL) shredded old Cheddar cheese, divided

- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) fresh thyme or 1ž2 teaspoon (2 mL) dried thyme


1. Heat oven to 375 F (190 C). Bake whole beets until tender when pierced with tip of sharp knife, about 1 hour or longer. Cool and peel.


2. Slice sweet potatoes, potatoes, parsnips and beets into circular discs about 1/2-inch (1-cm) thick and 2 inches (5 cm) across. Toss vegetables in oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; spread on baking sheet to roast until golden, about 25 minutes. Cool.


3. Meanwhile, in small saucepan, add cream and garlic cloves; boil to reduce by half, stirring to avoid burning. Remove garlic. Season with salt and pepper.


4. Toss half the cheese with thyme; spread on baking sheet; bake about 6 minutes. Leave to cool to become crisp. Cut into 6 to 8 pieces.


5. To build stacks, lay a variety of 8 vegetable discs on baking sheet. Spread 8 more discs with garlic cream; lay them, cream-side down, on the bottom discs, and sprinkle with a small amount of remaining grated cheese. Continue to build stacks, spreading each disc with garlic cream, and topping with cheese, but leave off cheese on the last disc. Reserve leftover vegetables for soups.


6. To serve, pop stacks into oven to melt cheese, about 5 minutes. Top each stack with 1 cheddar crisp.