Boom ROASTED
Chilly fall nights mean roasted veggies. It's a rule. There are few things more comforting than a steaming sweet potato slathered in almond butter (seriously, try it for breakfast and thank me later) or a heaping pile of crispy, oven-roasted broccoli.
Another great thing about roasted vegetables is that they're typically seasonal. One of the crappy things about the world of food today is that almost everything is available year-round. Reasonably, we shouldn't expect strawberries to be growing in the dead of winter. Doesn't that seem suspicious to you?
On the other hand, veggies like carrots, potatoes, cauliflower and squash are all dead-of-winter vegetables. You can even buy them from local CSAs or scout out fall and winter farmer's markets in your area. Rah!
Tommy and I went to the French Market in Wilmette a few weekends ago with the intent of making a low-impact (read: meat free) and local dinner. We got a giant butternut squash and a head of cauliflower and I got to figure out what to do with it.
In the end, I cubed and roasted the vegetables with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme until they were crispy and velvety-smooth. Then I sprinkled them heavily with grated parmesan and let that melt into a crispy, chewy crust. Yum. I also added chunks of onion and several whole cloves of garlic to the mix because oven-roasted garlic is SO GOOOOOOOD I could eat it on everything.
We sat down to dinner and it was pretty good, but there was something missing. In a fit of brilliance, I grabbed a lemon out of the fridge and grated a little zest over the whole thing. Jackpot. The lemon added the perfect bright note that cut through an otherwise very rich and savory dinner. The recipe would be even better with some preserved lemon (find it at a specialty foods store or order it off of Amazon) but obviously we didn't have any.
Please do your best to use fresh thyme in this recipe because the dried stuff truly doesn't taste like much. This recipe makes a whole bunch so it's a great weeknight dinner (AKA leftovers) or perfect for a meal for four.
Ingredients:
1 lb. fettucine, cooked al dente
1 large butternut squash, cubed
1 large head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
2 large onions, roughly chopped into large pieces
6-8 cloves of garlic (unpeeled)
1/4 c. EVOO, divided plus 3 tbs.
1 tbs. thyme, minced and divided
1/4 c. parmesan, grated and divided
Zest of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. On two large sheet pans, arrange the cubed butternut squash and the cauliflower, onion and garlic. Drizzle each pan with 1/8 c. EVOO and sprinkle half the thyme over each. Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
2. Bake at 350F for about 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the butternut squash is golden brown and tender and the cauliflower is too.
3. Sprinkle both pans evenly with the parmesan and the lemon zest. Return to the oven to keep warm.
4. Remove the paper from the garlic. Mash in a small bowl with the remaining olive oil until a smooth paste forms.
5. Work the garlic mixture into the fettucine until it is well incorporated. Toss the roasted vegetables with the pasta and serve with more parmesan, if desired.
