Carrots and parsnips share one tray and a spoon of honey

On Christmas Day, I try to keep the number of pans as small as possible. Carrots and parsnips are the easiest win: instead of boiling one and roasting the other, I put them together on one tray, roast them hot, and glaze them with a little honey and butter at the end. They come out sweet, sticky at the edges and soft inside, and the tray can go in the oven after the turkey or chicken comes out to rest.

For six people I use 500 g of carrots and 500 g of parsnips, two tablespoons of oil, a knob of butter, one or two tablespoons of honey, a few sprigs of thyme, salt and pepper. Sometimes I add a teaspoon of wholegrain mustard to the glaze, which goes well with ham.

I peel the carrots and parsnips and cut them into long pieces of a similar size, about the length of a finger. Parsnips cook faster at the thin end and slower at the thick end, so I cut the thick tops into quarters lengthways. If a big parsnip has a hard, woody core, I cut it out; it never softens.

I can do this in the morning, or even the day before. The cut vegetables keep well in a covered box in the fridge. I do not keep parsnips in water, because they go soggy.

I heat the oven to 200°C, or 180°C for a fan oven. In a large bowl I toss the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper and thyme, then spread them on a large tray in a single layer. Crowded vegetables steam instead of roasting, so if there are more than six of us, I use two trays.

They roast for about 30 minutes, turned once, until tender when pierced with a knife and golden at the edges. Then I take the tray out, dot the butter over the vegetables, drizzle over the honey, and toss everything with a spoon so it is coated. The tray goes back for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the glaze is bubbling and sticky. I watch them closely at this point, because honey burns quickly. I want deep golden, not black.

The glaze is very hot and sticky straight from the oven, so I let the tray stand for a couple of minutes before serving, and give the children's portions an extra minute to cool.

A word about honey. Honey is not suitable for babies under one year old, even when cooked, because of the small risk of infant botulism. If a baby is eating with us, I take out a small portion of plain roasted vegetables before adding the glaze, or I use maple syrup instead of honey for the whole tray.

Leftover carrots and parsnips go into the fridge within two hours and keep for two days. They are lovely reheated, mashed together with butter, or blended into a soup with stock.

On the same table I usually have one of my roast potato recipes; roast potatoes that win everyone over is in the Recipes section of this site.

Honey-glazed carrots and parsnips. Serves 6. About 45 minutes. You need 500 g carrots, 500 g parsnips, 2 tbsp oil, a knob of butter, 1–2 tbsp honey (or maple syrup), thyme, salt and pepper. Cut the vegetables into even fingers, toss with the oil, thyme and seasoning, and roast in one layer at 200°C (180°C fan) for 30 minutes. Add the butter and honey, toss, and roast 5–10 minutes more until sticky. No honey for babies under one.

Which vegetable never gets left on your Christmas plate?