I love baked vegetables because it’s easy and quick to prepare, whilst if you use some care in the way you cut the vegetables, it looks so beautiful. And when you have remainings of a little bit of this and that in your fridge, it’s the solution to combine everything together, as the flavours don’t mingle. Sometimes I like to slice the vegetables very thinly, with a potato peeler. It’s time-consuming but the result pays for the effort. Or I cut them thicker, the important is to keep them the same size so they roast evenly. The best aromatic herbs for this type of cooking are the ones that can dry without losing the flavour, like rosemary, savoury, marjolaine, thyme, oregano.
As you can see in the photo below, there’s a remarkable difference in volume from the before and after. It’s concentrated food!
Roasting vegetables develop their taste and give a crunchy texture. You can use any variety you like, apart from green leaves: for better results use what’s in season.
For the quantities, I calculate 200/250 gr x person, as they lose a lot of water. In the first photo, you see zucchini, small red onions and fresh garlic cut in two and abundantly brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, as it takes longer to cook than the other vegetables.
Turn on the oven at 375°F / 190°C
Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Wash all your vegetables like carrots, beetroots, onions, new potatoes, zucchini, radishes, fennels. If you use cherry tomatoes, make a tiny hole in the skin, they will cook better.
Peel the carrots, onions and beetroots, then slice all the vegetables you chose: try to make equal pieces so they will cook at the same time.
Spread the vegetables on the baking dish, sprinkle with salt, chilli flakes, extra-virgin olive oil and aromatic herbs of your choice.
Bake, turning them a couple of times with a wooden spoon so that they are equally covered with salt and oil.
Roast till they are soft inside and golden outside. It will take between 40/60 mn depending on the veggies, the size you cut them and your oven.
Serve on a lovely plate as a side dish for meat, fish, scrambled eggs or fresh goat’s cheese. If you have leftovers you can use them to make a savoury tart.
Sweet and sour celery and bell peppers
I still remember the day I made this recipe. I was working as a private chef and it was the last day of the season, so the day I used everything remaining in the fridge. And that day I had a lot of celery, some bell peppers and sweet onions. Which isn’t very appealing for high-end clients. Anyway, I did it and it came out so good that my client told me it was a recipe to keep. That’s why I remember it.
So, after shooting the Anchoiade for the Summer Gatherings cookbook, I had celery and bell peppers remaining. And here we go. It’s even better the day after, eaten cold, which makes it perfect for this season. Perfect to serve with cheese, ham, salami and a slice of country bread. You can also make the recipe above with the Anchoiade leftovers.
Ingredients for 4 servings
2 medium-size bell peppers
300 gr of green celery stalks
2 red sweet onions
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of white wine or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of cane sugar
50 gr of black tiny olives, the Italian Taggiasche are delicious. Or the greek Kalamata are good as well, though they are bigger.
2/3 sprigs of thyme, one sprig of rosemary
Salt, freshly ground pepper
Directions
Wash the peppers and the celery, peel the onion.
Divide the peppers in two, discard the seeds and the white parts that are on the inside, slice each half longwise and then divide each slice in four with a diagonal cut. Trim the bottom of the celery stalks, cut them diagonally at the same size as the peppers. Divide the onions in half, then divide f each part into three slices. Put the onions in a large skillet with a tablespoon of oil, sprinkle with a little salt and cook on medium heat for five minutes, bring the heat to high, add the peppers, cook a couple of minutes while stirring, add the celery and the rosemary and thyme, stir to combine. Pour the vinegar and sugar, mix well then turn the heat to medium.
Sprinkle a little more salt, pour half a glass of water into the skillet, cover with a lid and cook for about 15 minutes, till tender but still crunchy. Pay attention that it doesn’t dry out, in this case, add a little bit of water.
When cooked, sprinkle with the pepper, taste for the salt and drizzle with a tablespoon of oil.
I keep it in an airtight container till the day after, because all the flavours get together making it a real treat. I also find it very convenient for impromptu snacks.
New edition! I reviewed the two ebooks, corrected errors, made the layout more fluid, and changed some photos. It’s been long labour and I’m happy with it.
For those who purchased the old edition: you’ll receive the new one for free. Thank you to all of you, it means a lot to me and will help me to produce more.