Oven Roast Veg

It’s amazing the difference in flavours you can get by simply changing the way you cook something.

Normally I like to fry courgette / tomato / shallot in a pan and maybe add in a small tub of tomato sauce (or not) … changing the method to simply putting it in the oven results in such a vastly different taste experience.

This is actually an old photo where I took some cherry tomatoes, Courgette, and bacon and cooked it all with a good splash of olive oil and some Herbes de Provence (The bacon went in around half way through cooking so as not to burn too much). Tonight was however vegetarian and I ended up using some normal tomatoes, an aubergine, and a courgette. Exact same principle though.

Place all the chopped veg onto a baking tray. Sprinkle on a decent amount of Herbes de Provence. Add a good dollop of olive oil and roast in the oven at 180C for around 25 minutes.Add in some garlic cloves? Shallots and anything else that tickles your fancy. Time will vary depending on the thickness of your veg. You’ll also want to stir once or twice during cooking to re-coat the veg with olive oil and to get it all cooking a bit more evenly.

At the end of cooking you could even grill the veg for a bit and try charring them a bit more.

The best piece of advice I can give you though is to use the best olive oil you can. Your bog standard supermarket olive oil will do an ok job. If you invest in a decent bottle of olive oil though you’re really going to notice the difference.

Once you’ve roasted your veg what you do with them is up to you. Mix in with some pasta? Use them as a topping for a home made pizza? Serve with some bulgar / ebly?