Honey and rosemary kumara

Tam West

The combination of honey, rosemary and garlic is used in many cuisines but I first tasted it while working in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France. My job was to truss up little farmed pigeons which were roasted in a small casserole with fresh rosemary, squashed garlic cloves with their skins still on, and delicious fragrant local honey (usually lavender or wild thyme). I will never forget standing over the casserole basting the bird with this amazing buttery coating of flavours. This is an easy and extremely tasty way to enjoy kumara as a side dish to serve with any main course. In fact, it’s pretty good on its own.

Ingredients

1 ½ kgs	Kumara, gold, peeled (Main)
3 Tbsp	Olive oil
1 tsp	Salt
3 cloves	Garlic
1 Tbsp	Rosemary, finely chopped (Main)
2 Tbsp	Butter
2 tsp	Honey, thyme, lavender or other single flora variety (Main)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 200C. Dice the kumara into 2cm chunks. Bring to the boil in a pot of salted water, gently simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Drain the water off and place kumara on a roasting tray. Drizzle with oil, season with salt, add the garlic cloves —unpeeled and squashed flat (they will be removed after roasting).
3. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden and crisp, remove garlic cloves. Stir through the rosemary and butter so it melts and coats the kumara.
4. Place in a hot serving dish, then season with pepper and drizzle with honey to finish.

See more of Geoff's honey recipes

• Honey thyme roast chicken
• Five-spiced sticky honey pork
• Honey creme brulee
• Honey parfait
• Honey and walnut bread