ROASTING VEGETABLES TIME RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. To prepare your vegetables:
  2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Halve and deseed the pepper, then cut each half into 4 pieces. Peel the red onion and cut into 8 wedges. Carefully cut the squash in half then scoop out and discard the seeds. Cut each half into 2cm chunks. Wash and trim the baby leeks. Halve the courgettes lengthways then slice into 2cm chunks. Top and tail the aubergine, cut it into quarters, then into 2cm chunks. Quarter the tomatoes. Leave the cloves of garlic in their skins but squash them with the heel of your hand.
  3. Put all the veg in an extra large roasting tray, or 2 smaller ones. Crush the coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar then scatter over the veg with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Pick and roughly chop the rosemary leaves. Pick the thyme leaves. Scatter all of the herbs over the veg. Drizzle it all well with olive oil, then toss to coat.
  4. To cook and serve your vegetables: Roast your veg in the hot oven for around 50 minutes, or until soft, golden and cooked through. Serve with anything from roast chicken to grilled meats or fish, or try tossing with pasta or couscous for a simple veggie meal.
  5. Jamie's top tips:
  6. If the vegetables seem crowded in a single roasting pan, divide them between two. Overcrowding the pan will stop enough heat getting to the vegetables and they will steam rather than roast.
  7. Turning the vegetables as they roast helps them to cook evenly. If you’re using two roasting pans, swap them round half way through cooking. Roasting is a great way to make veg taste delicious, and it works for just about any combo – just make sure your oven is fairly hot, the veg are roughly the same size and that they get a good stir every now and again.
  8. You can also make this ahead of time and eat it cold – it’s just as delicious!

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5.
  2. Peel the potatoes, cutting any larger ones so they’re all an even-size – twice the size of a squash ball is about right.
  3. Wash the potatoes in cold water to get rid of any extra starch then tip into a large pot, cover with cold salted water and parboil for 7 minutes, then drain in a colander and leave to steam dry for 3 minutes.
  4. Give the colander a bit of a shake to help chuff up the potatoes – this will help to make them super-crisp later on.
  5. At this point, you need to decide which flavour combo to go with. Tip the potatoes into a large tray in one layer, and add the fat – olive oil, butter or goose fat – then season really well with sea salt and black pepper.
  6. Toss the potatoes in the fat (you could get the potatoes up to this stage the day before, simply cover them with clingfilm or tin foil and pop in the fridge or in a cool place until needed), then roast for 30 minutes, or until lightly golden and three quarters cooked.
  7. Now’s the time for my trick. Gently squash each potato with a potato masher to increase the surface area – the more of your potato that’s in contact with the pan, the crispier it will be.
  8. Add 1 good lug of oil to a small bowl and pick and/or tear in the herbs. If opting for flavour combo 2, peel in a good few strips of clementine zest with a speed-peeler – you won’t eat these but they’ll add amazing flavour. Break up the garlic bulb, adding the unpeeled cloves to the bowl, along with a splash of red wine vinegar, then scrunch and mix it up a bit.
  9. Add your chosen flavour combo to the potatoes and give the pan a good shake, then pop back in the hot oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until gnarly, crispy, bubbly and delicious.
  10. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain off some of the excess fat, then tuck in!