Global Holiday Recipe: Caramelized Roasted Vegetables

Holiday Feature

Caramelized Roasted Vegetables

Serves 6 to 8

This dish is a wonderful accompaniment to roasted chicken or any meat or fish, and it is a hearty vegetarian main course. You can integrate whatever is in season, whatever catches your eye at the market. If peppers are out of season, omit them. If they are readily available, use more, perhaps even a combination of red, orange, and yellow. This is a freeform, rustic dish.

My friend Susan Andrews introduced me to this method of separating vegetables into two or three baking dishes so they are not crowded and have a chance to become crispy and brown. If you use a glazed terracotta baking dish, the vegetables will take about 1-1/4 hours to cook. In a glass dish they will take a little over an hour, and in a cast-iron skillet the roasting time will be only about 50 minutes. You can also use roasting pans or baking sheets.

1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 russet potato, unpeeled, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 green zucchini, cut into 3/4-inch-thick slices
2 yellow zucchini or summer squash, cut into 3/4-inch thick slices
1 eggplant, cubed, salted, allowed to drain for 30 minutes in a colander, and patted dry
1 head garlic, unpeeled and broken into cloves
2 yellow onions, cut into 8 wedges each
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced into wedges
1 or more red bell peppers, seeded and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-wide strips
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 fresh rosemary sprigs, or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F.

Arrange all the vegetables in 3 or more pans, drizzle with the olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Using your hands, toss the vegetables so that all of them are evenly coated. Break up 1 of the rosemary sprigs and distribute it over the vegetables, or sprinkle the dried rosemary over them.

Roast until the vegetables are brown and tender, depending upon the baking vessel used (see introduction) and the size and variety of the vegetables. Transfer to a large platter and serve immediately with a sprig of rosemary on top.

From:
Olive Oil:
From Tree to Table
by Peggy Knickerbocker
Photographs by Laurie Smith
1997, Chronicle Books
$19.95
Reprinted by permission