Classic Turnip and Apple Casserole

Submitted by Lennie

"I first had this recipe at my husband's aunt's home back in 1979; got the recipe from her and have been making it to serve with turkey dinner ever since. I love the apples and turnip together! If you want to make it ahead of time, you can; just make it up to the layering stage then cover tightly and refrigerate. Put topping on, though, just before it goes into the oven."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1 large yellow turnip (known as a rutabaga, sometimes called a Swede)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons light cream (you can use milk)
• 2 apples (I use macintosh)
• 1⁄4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon

• Topping

• 1⁄3 cup flour
• 1⁄3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F; butter a casserole dish (or spray with Pam) and set aside.
2. Peel and dice turnip (this can be a tough job, as turnips are very dense) and place in a large pot.
3. Cover with cold, lightly salted water and bring to a boil.
4. Boil until turnip is tender (this takes longer than potatoes, usually), then drain and return to the pot.
5. Mash turnip with the 1 tbsp butter and cream; stir in 1/4 cup brown sugar and the cinnamon; set aside.
6. Peel apples, core, and slice.
7. In prepared casserole dish, layer 1/3 of the turnip, then half the sliced apples, then 1/3 of the turnip, then the remaining apples, then the remaining turnip; smooth top.
8. At this point, you could cover the dish tightly and refrigerate for several hours; don't put topping on until you're ready to pop this into the oven.
9. When ready to bake, combine topping ingredients in a small bowl until they are crumbly; sprinkle over top of turnip.
10. Bake in preheated oven for one hour; serve.

Reviews

[Cathy17]

Classic Canadian Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner fare. This is similar to the recipe in the Best of Bridge. Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without these tasty turnips. <br/><br/>I add more cinnamon to the turnip mix. This time I used one layer of granny smith apples and the 2nd layer was honey crisp. I subbed agave nectar for the brown sugar in the turnips, but used brown sugar for the topping. <br/><br/>Very tasty traditional dish.

 

[Eastiegirl]

My friend brought this to a turkey dinner pot luck we had. It was awesome! Loved the turnip and apples together! She tossed her apple slices in cinnamon before layering them but other than that it was the same. I can't believe I haven't made this before! It will be a holiday must have recipe from now on!

 

[Busters friend]

Rutabaga was a new vegie for us (well, actually old if it counts listening to Frank Zappa calling their name LOL). It peeled like an apple with a frightening sharp knife but did take some muscle to dice. After boiling dice in salted water 15 minutes, it ws tender & mildly sweet with firmer texture than turnips & no "bite". Paired with the apples & sweet, it tasted like apple pie. We were impressed & will be trying Swedes on their own as well. Thanks for the introduction Lennie - we liked this alot as our sweet on the Thanksgiving table (boo to gloppy marshmallows!)

 

[*Parsley*]

I admit that as I was making this, I had my doubts about it. After tasting the finished product, I was amazed at how absolutely delicious this was! My turnips were a bit small so I used three of them. I used an 8x8 pan and still only had enough to make 2 layers. The apples paired very well with the turnips in this dish. (I used honeycrisp) I recommend this recipe to anyone who thinks that they don't like turnips. Thanx for posting this outstanding turnip recipe!

 

[MonicaD]

Ooops! Missed the flour part. I use dry bread crumbs or cracker crumbs(have used Ritz crackers successfully)but same follow through.