ultimate roasted vegetables

Even though we celebrate Christmas in the middle of an Australian summer, gorgeous golden crispy roasted vegetables are still a must on our festive table. But rather than enjoying them straight from the oven I opt to bake them Christmas eve and serve them at room temperature along with a cool crunchy zesty salad of greens for a much lighter christmas lunch.

Over the years and thanks to the genius of Jamie Oliver my roast vegetables have evolved into divine little babies that are wonderfully fluffy in the middle and gorgeously golden and crispy on the outside. The secret to creating the ultimate roast vege is to parboil the starchy vegetables prior to roasting.

Once the vegetables are parboiled, I drain them and as instructed by Jamie give them a good shake to break up the surface of the vegetables in order to create super crispy, gorgeous golden edges. I then pop the manhandled vegetables onto a baking tray along with a few greens, a big handful of garlic cloves, sprigs of fresh herbs and a good drizzle of olive oil.

After a good hour or so in the oven the vegetables are pure perfection. Golden, crispy edges with a light fluffy soft interior.

To ensure these little darlings are baby led weaning appropriate I didn’t season the vegetables whatsoever this year and opted to cut the vegetables into rather large chunky pieces so that teeny tiny little hands would be able to pick them up and nibble away with ease.

To create the ultimate roast veges for your christmas supper simply…

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (390F). Begin by chopping the carrot into large finger sized pieces, parsnip into quarters (length ways), pumpkin into large chunks, the sweet potatoes into large chunks and the potatoes into quarters.

Place the parsnip, potato, sweet potato and carrot into a large saucepan. Fill with water and place over high heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes, just until the vegetables are slightly tender.

Whilst the vegetables are bubbling away, prepare the greens. Cut the ends off the brussel sprouts and halve and trim the woody ends off the asparagus.

Drain the potato/sweet potato/ parnsip/carrots and give the vegetables a good shake in the colander to break up the surface of the vegetables (this will help to create golden crispy edges).

Place the parboiled carrots/parnsips/potato/sweet potato into a large oven tray lined with baking paper. Add the asparagus and brussel sprouts. Sprinkle over a few cloves of garlic, sprigs of rosemary and lemon thyme and drizzle with a good glug of olive oil. Roast for about an hour or so, just until they are cooked and gorgeously golden.

Place the golden, crispy, perfect festive roasted vegetables on a serving tray and enjoy x

ultimate roast veges

adapted from Jamie Oliver

INGREDIENTS

3 potatoes, quartered

1 large sweet potato, cut into large chunks

2 parsnip, quartered lengthways

2 carrots, cut into large finger length pieces

1 large piece of pumpkin (1/2 butternut pumpkin or 1/4 japanese pumpkin), cut into large chunks

1 bunch asparagus, woody ends trimmed

big handful of brussel sprouts, ends removed and halved

6 cloves garlic

2 sprigs of rosemary

small bunch of lemon thyme

extra virgin olive oil

METHOD

Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (390 F). Place the potato, sweet potato, parsnip and carrot into a large saucepan, fill with water and place over high heat. Boil for 10 minutes or so, just until the vegetables are tender. Drain and give the vegetables a good shake in the colander to break up the surface of the vegetables (this will help to create golden crispy edges). Place the parboiled potato/sweet potato/parsnip/carrot into a large oven tray lined with baking paper. Top with asparagus, brussel sprouts, garlic, rosemary and lemon thyme. Drizzle over a good glug of olive oil and pop into the oven to roast for a good hour or so. Just until the vegetables are cooked, golden and crispy. Place the roast vege onto a serving platter and enjoy x

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