Low and Slow Roasted Plum Tomatoes

There are many different approaches to making and using roasted tomatoes. Here's another one, optimal for plum tomatoes - small to medium sized and not excessively juicy. The result is excellent ground or pureed into a pasty sauce and applied to pasta, roasted meat, or vegetables. Alternatively, you can freeze the roasted tomatoes for later use.

4-6 cups plum tomatoes or similar
Good quality olive oil
Salt and pepper
Dried herbs: optional

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Slice the tomatoes in half lengthwise and core and seed. Spread them out cut side up on a rimmed baking sheet. You may wish to line it with parchment or a silicone baking mat.

Drizzle the tomatoes generously with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, generously but not to excess. If desired, you may also sprinkle with one or more dried herbs: basil, oregano, sage, rosemary, and/or thyme would all work well.

Roast the tomatoes for an hour, or a bit longer if they are on the large side. When they are done, they will have mostly collapsed and slightly caramelized; they will still be somewhat moist but not juicy,

Garlic Roasted Asparagus and Shiitakes

Save this for when it cools down enough to run the oven for a few minutes. Or try it on the grill in a grill basket.

1 - 1 1/2 lbs asparagus, in 2-inch lengths
1/2 lb shiitakes, stemmed and halved if large
6-8 cloves garlic or 1-2 stalks green spring garlic, minced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Toss asparagus, shiitakes, and garlic in a mixing bowl with a drizzle of olive oil.Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Spread out in a single layer on a baking pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until veggies are done the way you like them.

Serves about 4.

Maple Balsamic Roasted Squash Wedges

Sweet and tangy, these get a little caramelized on the outside with the maple syrup.

2-3 lbs smallish roundish winter squash
3-4 Tbsp Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the squash in half from top to bottom and scoop out the seeds. Cut into wedges approximately 1 inch wide in the middle.

Arrange squash wedges on a rimmed baking sheet. Make sure they have plenty of room and do not overlap. Brush liberally with the maple balsamic vinaigrette, both sides.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes, until squash is tender. Turn over once if desired (not required).

Serves 4-6.

Garlic Roasted Green Beans

These were simple to prepare and they came out really delicious even though I made them with beans that had been frozen. If you're roasting something else for dinner (chicken legs, say, or fish), you can do these right on the same pan. Just add them about 20 minutes before the rest of the dinner needs to be removed from the oven.

5 cups cut green beans (thawed and well drained if frozen)
8-10 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well, so that the beans are thoroughly coated with oil and the garlic is well distributed. Spread out in thin layer on a baking sheet (it's ok if it's not a single layer, but try not to pile them too much). Roast for 15-20 minutes, stirring once, until the beans start to turn a bit golden in places.

Serves about 4.

Simple Roasted Brussels Sprouts

The preparation and seasoning of these sprouts is utterly simple, but they are packed with flavor. This might be my new favorite way to eat them. I topped mine with a sprinkle of fleur de sel before serving, just because I had some, but they don't need it.

1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed (large sprouts halved)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fancy salt for topping (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the sprouts in a bowl and drizzle generously with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the sprout on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Roasted for 25-30 minutes, until nicely browned and crispy on the outside and tender when pierced with a fork. Serve hot, topped with a bit of fancy salt if desired.

Serves 3-4.

Parmesan Thyme Roasted Cauliflower

I'm not usually a cauliflower person, but this is excellent. Roasting makes cauliflower deeply flavorful, and the Parmesan and thyme add additional savory layers. (Note that the cauliflower in the photo looks quite dark because I used purple cauliflower. If you use the white kind, it should be nicely browned in places but not dark.)

1 lb cauliflower, cut up
3 Tbsp walnut oil
Salt and pepper
2-3 Tbsp grated Parmesan
A sprinkling of dried thyme

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Toss the cauliflower in a bowl with the other ingredients and make sure it is well coated. Spread it out on a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast for 20-30 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork. Serve hot.

Serves 3-4.

Roasted Chicken Legs with Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic, and Mushrooms

Since we picked all our remaining tomatoes before the freeze, we have quite a few ripening inside still. In fact, we suddenly had more cherry tomatoes ripe on the counter than we were going to be able to use in salads. They were perfect in this one pan oven roasted dinner, which has a Mediterranean flair.

2 lbs chicken legs or other bone-in cuts, skin on
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
1 pint shiitakes or other mushrooms, cubed
1 head garlic (or more to taste), cloves separated and peeled
1 1/2 cups cooked chick peas or white beans
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Season the chicken all over with salt and pepper.

Combine cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, and beans in a mixing bowl. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spread the tomato mixture in the bottom of a large baking dish (10x14 inches) or a half sheet pan with a good rim on it. Place the chicken pieces on top of the veggies. Sprinkle all over with thyme.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is golden.

Serve pieces of chicken with a spoonful of juicy veggies.

Serves 4-6.

Roasted September Vegetables with Thyme and Red Wine Vinegar

This combination of vegetables goes well together with many different seasoning options. Here's another one, savory and tangy on the tongue. Substitute other mushrooms if you like.

1 large eggplant, peeled and cubed
2 sweet red peppers, in bite sized pieces
1-2 summer squash or zucchini, cubed
1/4 lb shiitake mushrooms, halved or sliced
1 medium onion, diced
Olive oil
2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
Salt and pepper
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all the vegetables in a large bowl. Drizzle generously with olive oil, quickly tossing to coat the vegetables before it all soaks into the eggplant. Sprinkle with thyme, salt, and pepper, then drizzle with the red wine vinegar and toss again.

Spread the vegetables out on a rimmed baking sheet, preferable in a single layer. Roasted for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until tender.

Serves about 4.

Roasted September Vegetables with Dill Yogurt Sauce

This recipe is perfect for this time of year, when the late summer vegetables are still going pretty strong but the weather has cooled down enough to make roasting appealing. This combination is deeply flavorful, and the dill yogurt sauce with a pinch of garlic gives it a Greek or Turkish flair.

Vegetables
1 large eggplant, peeled and cubed
2 sweet red peppers, in bit sized pieces
2-3 paste tomatoes, seeded and cubed
Olive oil
Salt

Yogurt Sauce
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 clove garlic, very finely minced
1 Tbsp chopped fresh (or frozen) dill

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the vegetables in a large bowl. Drizzle generously with olive oil and quickly toss (the eggplant will absorb oil, so toss quickly after drizzling to spread it around before it soaks in too much). Sprinkle with salt and toss again.

Spread the vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet, preferably in a single layer. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent burning and sticking.

While the vegetables roast, combine the yogurt, garlic, and dill and stir well. The yogurt will thin into a sauce.

Serve the vegetables topped with the yogurt sauce at the table.

Serves 4-6.

Rosemary-Garlic Roasted Leg of Local Lamb

My husband adores lamb, so I bought a leg from Balky Farm (in Northfield) at the farmers market and roasted it for his recent birthday. Some good olives go well alongside this.

Ready to go in the oven

1 bone-in leg of lamb, 4-5 lbs
Salt and pepper
2 heads garlic, peeled
1/4 cup rosemary leaves
Olive oil

Season the lamb in advance if you can. At least an hour is good, and as much as a full day ahead of time brings welcome added flavor to the meat.

Using a sharp, thin-bladed knife, cut small slits into the meat all over it. Sprinkle generously all over with salt and pepper.

Mince the garlic and rosemary together, then combine with enough olive oil to make a paste. Smear this all over the lamb, working it into the slits as well as spreading it on the surface. Place the lamb in a roasting pan that just fits it. Let sit until ready to cook (on the counter is fine for an hour or so; otherwise in the fridge).

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roast the lamb for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 325. Roast for an additional 15 minutes, then begin testing the temperature. Check it in several places; you want it to be at least 130 degrees for medium rare. Keep in mind that a bone-in roast will take longer to cook near the bone than on the outside. Continue to cook if needed.

Let the lamb sit for 10-15 minutes before carving. Serve warm.

Ginger Maple Roasted Parsnips

Parsnips take really well to dry heat cooking, which brings out their natural sweetness. They pair well with sweet spices and seasonings. If you want to get fancy with the presentation here, you could serve these topped with a sprinkling of fleur de sel. Regardless, do add salt - it works well against the sweetness of the syrup, which gives the parsnips a nice candied texture around the edges.

2 lbs parsnips
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 Tbsp walnut or canola oil
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Peel the parsnips and cut out woody cores, then cut into cubes or spears. Toss them in a bowl with the maple syrup, oil, ginger, and a sprinkling of salt. When well coated, spread on a rimmed baking sheet (you may want to use parchment paper or foil to prevent a sticky cleanup job). Roast for 20-25 minutes, turning once, until the parsnips are tender and nicely golden brown.

Serves 3-4.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potatoes

These were a huge hit with all of us, making me wish I had made a bigger batch. Savory and nutty, a little bit crispy. This recipe works fine with all sprouts or all sweet potatoes, too.

3-4 cups trimmed Brussels sprouts
3-4 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes (1/2-inch cubes)
1 1/2 Tbsp walnut or canola oil
1 1/2 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp dried sage
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Toss all ingredients in a medium bowl until well coated. Spread in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast for about 30 minutes, stirring once or twice to prevent sticking. Veggies are done when tender when pierced with a fork. Serve hot.

Serves about 4.

Roasted Tomatoes and Peaches Over Polenta

Peaches and tomatoes share the same season, and they go well together in several contexts, a balance and counterpoint of tangy and sweet. Here they are combined with sweet roasted red onion over polenta, with a sprinkling of feta, fresh basil, and pine nuts to top it all off. Feel free to throw a fried egg on top if you like.

5-6 cups chopped fresh paste tomatoes, seeded and cored
2-3 medium peaches, sliced into slender wedges
1 medium red onion, sliced lengthwise
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups coarse cornmeal
4 cups water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup crumbled feta for topping
1 cup chopped fresh basil for topping
1/2  cup lightly toasted pine nuts for topping

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Combine the tomatoes, peaches, and red onion in a 9x13-inch baking pan. Drizzle with good quality olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then toss to coat. Roast for 45-60 minutes, stirring once or twice (the longer you roast them, the more liquid will cook off).

While the tomatoes and peaches roast, prepare the polenta. I have taken to making mine in my rice cooker, but to make it on the stovetop, bring the 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the cornmeal and stir in the salt. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened to desired consistency.

Serve polenta in bowls, topped generously with the tomato and peach mixture. Add feta, basil, and pine nuts at the table.

Serves 4-6.

Ginger Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Ginger goes well with the natural sweetness of sweet potatoes. As always, I like to roast them with walnut oil, but olive or canola will do.

1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 Tbsp walnut oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp brown sugar (optional)
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and stir well to coat evenly. Spread the sweet potatoes in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet (like the sheet with parchment paper if you like). Roast for 30-35 minutes, stirring once or twice, until tender. Serve hot.

Serves about 4.

Maple Walnut Parsnips and Sweet Potatoes

This is a simple and easy roasting treatment that brings out the natural sweetness and nuttiness in parsnips and sweet potatoes. Parsnips are generally best in the early spring when they've overwintered in the ground, turning their starch into sugar - but when harvested after several good freezes, they are also worth buying in the late fall.

1 1/2 lbs parsnips, peeled and cubed (cut out woody cores if needed)

1 1/2 - 2 lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1-2 Tbsp walnut oil

1 Tbsp maple syrup, as dark a grade as possible

Salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Toss the parsnips and sweet potatoes in a bowl with the oil and syrup, then add salt to taste. Spread out in a single layer (or nearly) on a baking sheet and roast until tender, about 30 minutes (may be longer if you like big cubes).

Serves 4-6.

Slow Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

We picked the very last of the tomatoes before the first freeze a week and a half ago. With a bowl of cherry tomatoes sitting on the counter, it was time to put them to use. These are great with pasta or on pizza.

Cherry tomatoes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Dried basil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Spread the cherry tomatoes in a single layer in a baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a bit of dried basil. Toss to coat the tomatoes all over, then return them to their single layer.

Roast for 25-35 minutes, until the tomatoes have split open and turned appealingly wrinkled and excess liquid has evaporated - but not to the point where they become glued to the pan.

Fire Roasted Eggplant

October is still eggplant season! Do up a few on the grill like this, maybe along with some red peppers, and make Fire Roasted Red Pepper and Eggplant Sauce, a smoky version of Roasted Eggplant Garlic Dip, or make up some Roasted Eggplant Puree with Olive Oil. The fire roasted flesh is also nice just chopped up and added to pasta sauce, a lamb stew or curry, or pizza.

You can use any number of eggplants, depending on how much you plan to use, and virtually any type. Fatter ones will take a bit longer to roast than the skinny kind.

Wash eggplants and pierce in several places with a sharp knife. Leave the calyxes on.  Get the grill going nice and hot and roast the eggplants, turning once or twice, until black all over and very soft.

Remove blackened eggplants from the grill and let them cool.  When cool enough to handle, cut off the calyx end and slice open. Scoop out the flesh and use however you like.

Roasted Tomatoes for the Freezer

There are lots of ways to freeze tomatoes. Every year I experiment a little, seeking the magical nexus between up-front effort and quality of the end product. This one is a bit more up-front work, but I'm very optimistic about the end result.

Like all tomato freezing and canning, this will yield the best results with paste tomatoes rather than the much juicier slicers or the too-fussy-to-handle cherry tomatoes.  (Both of those work well in salsa or dried.)

I have come to the conclusion that it is best to peel the tomatoes, despite the extra work involve (it's not that bad) - frozen tomato skins end up tough and they inevitably peel off the chunks of tomato and float around in whatever you've cooked with them.  Not a huge deal, but better to peel them before freezing.

Before peeling the tomatoes, core them and cut out any bad spots.  This is far easier to do before blanching than after.

To peel tomatoes easily, bring a Dutch oven or other large pot of water to a boil. Have a large bowl of ice water ready nearby. Dunk the tomatoes for about 1 minute each in the boiling water, then lift them out with a slotted spoon and place in the bowl of ice water.  (This is called blanching.)  Remove from ice water, and you'll find that the skins slip right off.

Blanched tomatoes ready to peel

 Peel off the skins, squeeze out the seeds and excess liquid, and place the tomatoes in a roasting pan.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, then roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let them cool.  

Roasted tomatoes ready to drain and package

Scoop cooled tomatoes out with a slotted spoon or dump them into a colander to remove more liquid.  When ready, scoop them into freezer bags. I like to use quart bags, freezing about 3 cups of tomatoes per bag - that seems to be about the right amount for most recipes I use them in.  Squeeze excess air out of the bags, then press the tomatoes out flat - they will store more compactly and thaw more quickly this way.

When you are ready to use these tomatoes, thaw them in a bowl of warm water until you can get them out of the bag.

Parmesan Roasted Fennel and Zucchini/Summer Squash

Sweet, nutty, and a little salty from the Parmesan.  You might even get kids to eat this.

1 1/2 lbs zucchini or summer squash, sliced in 1/4-inch rounds

1 medium fennel bulb, sliced 1/4-inch thick

2 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  If desired, place a sheet of parchment paper over a large baking pan.

Place the zucchini or squash and the fennel in a large bowl.  Drizzle with the olive oil, then sprinkle the salt and pepper and the Parmesan.  Toss until the vegetables are all well coated.

Spread the veggies out in more or less a single layer on the baking sheet (use two if you need to). Roast for 30-40 minutes, turning once or twice, until tender and partly browned.  If desired, finish under the broiler for about 2 minutes for additional browning.

Serves about 4.

Sesame Ginger Grilled Asparagus

Enjoy the asparagus while you can - we've got maybe two more weeks before it's done for the season.

This recipe would work for roasting, too, but who can think about roasting when its 95 degrees in the shade?

2 Tbsp grated ginger root
2 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 lb asparagus, tough ends snapped off

Combine the ginger, sesame oil, and soy sauce in a small bowl and mix well.

Place the asparagus in a wide, shallow bowl or baking pan and drizzle with the sesame-ginger mix, then toss until thoroughly coated.

Grill over medium-high heat for 5-6 minutes, until the asparagus is tender.

Serves 4.