Turnip Roots and Greens
Recipe courtesy of Vivian Howard
Recipe Yield
5 cups
Cooking time
35 minutes
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Ingredients
- 8 ounces semi-dry country-style link sausage removed from casings
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 quarts water
- 2 pounds turnip roots with their greens attached
- 1 teaspoon salt
To Prepare
- Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook until the sausage starts to brown. Pour in the water, cover, and bring it up to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, wash the roots and greens thoroughly. If you’re using Purple Top or another variety of large turnip, separate the roots from the greens and cut the roots into quarters. If you’re using Hakureis, you can leave them whole.
- Make sure you still have 2 quarts of water in the saucepan and add the roots and greens at the same time. They will not be completely submerged right away, but check back in a minute or two and stir things around. The greens will have cooked down, and both the roots and greens should be submerged in the cooking liquid. If they are not, add just enough water to barely cover them.
- Simmer covered for about 10-15 minutes. You’re looking for the roots to be quite tender and the greens to be soft. Once they’re done, drain off all but 1/2 cup — pot liquour is the life-fixing chicken soup of the South.
- Add the salt. If you have a collard chopper, roughly work through the roots, greens and sausage. The end product ain’t gonna be pretty, but it is delicious. If you don’t have a collard chopper, get one, and use a large fork in the meantime. Serve warm.
Comments
4comments inTurnip Roots and Greens
Karen
Oct 18
I had just too many items to store after a CSA Pick Up & was looking to simply condense & store into smaller containers…..5 big Hakureis, or commonly called Japanese Salad turnips w’very fresh greens turned into the most surprisingly delicious soup! Being Vegan, I skipped the sausage completely but added a bit more EVOO & 2 ‘Not Beef’ Bouillon cubes. As suggested I drank the ‘pot liquour’ when done & easily had 1/4 the amount to store for a bit tilll I used the other vegs. Absolutely astounded at the flavor of both!
Pati Jinich
Oct 19
Great job Karen, yay!
Gloria McNeal
Mar 12
What type of turnips were used in this recipe?
Pati Jinich
Mar 18
Hi Gloria! I used large white turnips for this particular recipe but you can use Purple Top or another variety of large turnip, just make sure to separate the roots from the greens and cut the roots into quarters. If you’re using Hakureis, you can leave them whole 😉