Roasting veg, idiots guide?

lynzpower · 19 May 2006 at 5:26PM

Hi all.

I am actually quite a good cook, but sometimes the basics go pearshaped. Heres another example.

I have for roasting for dinner later
leeks
mushrooms
baby cherry toms
carrots
peppers
butternut squash

never cooked this before but meant to be nice, so i thought id buy one
red onions

I dont know what I always do wrong but it always shrivvels & burns.

Whats going wrong?

I usually use olive oil. Shall I put some herbs in, what will go well, got the full range dried & growing in the garden? your thoughts appreciated as ever!

mamaoba · 19 May 2006 at 5:51PM

Chop em up, shove em on gas mark 4 for about 30 mins. I usually put my roasted veg on the shelf below the meat and tatties (I do these at gas mark 5-6).

The butternut squash is a pain to chop so I always roast it whole, then scoop it out afterwards. It takes a little longer than the rest done this way so I just pop it in 5 -10 mins before. Leftover butternut squash makes a wonderful rissotoo with a little parmesan (or any other cheese if that's all that's in the cupboard).

leftovers of the other veggies are wonderful with passatta for a pasta sauce or on top of pizza.

Rosemary sprigs (pop in with the veg) or fresh basil (just add as you serve so the leaves wilt) and roasted garlic (goes sweet and mild tasting when roasted) are gorg with your combo.

Sounds to me like you may just have the oven on too high.

jassi_9 · 19 May 2006 at 6:04PM

basically your trying to roast vegetables all at once that have very different cooking times (trust me im a life long vegetarian!)

the peppers take the longest, start with them first, probably with the carrots

mushrooms dont roast very well so why not fry them with the onions, becuase the onions release sugar when they are cooked slowly, and go very brown and dark, and tend to "tinge the rest of the food" so its not a good idea (unless u keep them away from the rest

also the tomatoes roast quicker, go soft and mushy, and again can ruin the rest as alot of water is released, so if u want to keep them fairly whole, add them later

dunno about the squash so id use the advice given by mamaoba, and ive never roasted leeks!

hope that helps!

moonrakerz · 19 May 2006 at 6:55PM

Don't forget the sweet potatoes, swede, "ordinary" spuds, shallots and parsnips.
Cut the longer cooking ones in smaller pieces, then they'll all be ready at the same time.

janb5 · 19 May 2006 at 8:24PM

Sorry but I`mgoing to disagree with the earlierpost.I`ve used the recipeby Delia and she suggestscooking on maximum heat. She has a very goodrecipe in her book `Winter Collection`(page161 Roastedroots with herbs- it`spossibly on her site deliaonline. 30-40minutes on a high shelf,maximum heat. Delicious!

She uses half a swede, 4 carrots 4smallparsnips, red onions and red potatoes(but sweet work welltoo)

Hope it goes well.

ukbandit · 19 May 2006 at 11:39PM

i chop everything u[p tpgether and chuck some pesto in...hmmmm....nice....!

30 minutes 180-200, just keep an eye on tehm and tosss half way through

Pink. · 20 May 2006 at 12:06AM

I oven roast mushrooms, courgettes, red and green peppers, red onion, cherry tomatoes and sliced garlic in a very high heat in the oven drizzled with a little olive oil.

I always add the cherry tomatoes about 10 minutes before the end of cooking or they do go mushy. Oven roasted veg need a close eye kept on them, so I find it handy to cook them before we are ready to eat and pop them back in (in the serving dish) to reaheat for a few minutes before I'm ready to serve the meal.

Pink

lynzpower · 20 May 2006 at 9:28AM

OK, it worked!!

I started by roasting the squash and the carrots from the off. then added the mushrooms & peppers & leeks about 20 mins later then the tomatoes about 10 mins before serviing. I had them in for about an hour adn a half on a low heat and they were perfect. due to some being med veg, and some being root veg i did the root first as they were denser.

Everything was perfect, and lovely and sweet. Very well recieved by the guests, and now II know I can do it properly! Although someone needs to invent a peeler for squash, impossible!

Wizwoo · 20 May 2006 at 9:41AM

Next time try to keep the mushrooms whole (if they're a decent size) and mix a bit of butter, parsley and crushed garlic - spoldge a bit on each - yummy roasted garlic mushrooms.
We bought some flat mushrooms for this but works equally well with others and they cooking down really well along with the other veggies.

What did you think of the butternut squash - it goes really sweet when it's roasted - yummy!

frugalfairy_3 · 20 May 2006 at 9:50AM

Just a quick note - I never peel butternut squash if I'm roasting it. The skin tastes just as good and it's a lot less work. I scrub the squash then chop it into either slices (the long thinnish end) or when I get to the seedy bit, I scoop out the seeds and then chop the rest into smallish pieces. It's just as delicious roasted like that, and a lot less hard on the hands

HTH

FF

miaxmia · 20 May 2006 at 9:53AM

I usually part cook my veg. in the microwave first then pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes, topped with a knob of butter (or can't believe it's not butter in my case) and some season-all.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Roasting veg, idiots guide?

Comments

Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply

🚀 Getting Started

Categories

Is this how you want to be seen?

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free