Eats shoots and leaves

Easy fish cakes

Makes 12, serves 6 You will need:

8 parsnips, peeled 120ml olive oil Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 560g smoked haddock, boneless 20g fresh dill, chopped 20g fresh chives, chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed Zest of 2 unwaxed lemons 2 large eggs, beaten 20g unsalted butter Lemon wedges, to serve 1 Fire up your oven to 210°C, 425°F, Gas 7. Dice your parsnips into 4cm chunks — you need approximately 600g. Toss them with 50ml (about three tablespoons) of your olive oil and ¼ teaspoon of sea salt. Put the diced parsnips on a parchment-lined tray, and roast them in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. 3 Once the diced parsnips are soft and golden brown, remove them from the oven and tumble them into a food processor. Pulse until they are mashed. Put the parsnip mash in a large bowl. Set it aside. 4 Roughly pulse your smoked haddock in the food processor, being careful not to mince it. Add it to the bowl of parsnip mash, along with the chopped fresh dill, the chopped fresh chives, the crushed garlic, the lemon zest, the beaten eggs, and some sea salt and freshly grated black pepper. Mix everything well, then turn the mixture into 12 patties. Each one should be about 8cm wide, and 2cm-3cm thick. 5 You can cover the patties and store them in the fridge until you’re ready to cook (Ottolenghi says up to 24 hours, but we’ve had them three nights in a row). To cook them, put the butter and the remainder of the olive oil into a large frying pan over a medium flame. Once the butter starts to foam, add the patties, and fry them for eight minutes, turning them over halfway through, until they are crisp and golden. Serve with lemon wedges and telepathic chest bumps.