With the temperatures dropping, it means that winter has truly set in. And with winter comes hearty, warm, comforting food. This week I’ve taken the basic idea of a ‘traybake’ to create a quick and easy dinner, reminiscent of a summer spent in Spain with the Patatas Bravas sauce (basically a spicy tomato sauce).
In the food field, the word ‘traybake’ is often associated with a large amount of cake. Now, don’t be too surprised to hear that it can be used in other contexts too. There’s nothing like a traybake of cake; but the basic principle of whipping together a group of ingredients to produce something yummy can be applied to the savoury food field too. I’m not going to deny that a cake based traybake is my favourite. But, in second place is a winter vegetable traybake.
The combination of crunchy carrots, nutty parsnips, sweet sweet potatoes is a match made in heaven (as well as a welcome relief for the bank account!). These are some of the best winter vegetables and give a colour variety to the dish as well! The sauce for this dish stems from the spanish dish Patatas Bravas; which is roasted / fried potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce. Instead of the laborious effort to make a spicy sauce everything is chucked into the roasting tin and baked together.
This recipe is a little bit less rigid than most; as there are only basic guidelines that need to be followed. It relies on three key ingredients – vegetables, spices and pulses. It’s great to use left over vegetables and to make in bulk; so you have ample lunches and dinners. The final dish can be served alone as a light meal or with rice, pasta or quinoa.
Roasted Vegetable Traybake
Serves 2 | Takes 40 minutes.
Ingredients:
- 1 large carrot, cut into 1inch cubes
- 1 large parsnip, cut into 1inch cubes
- 1 large sweet potato, cut into 1inch cubes
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- Salt and pepper
- 1 can of butter beans (chickpeas or cannolini beans also work)
- 1 can of pasatta
Method:
- Preheat oven to 180C.
- Place the vegetables onto a large baking tray and sprinkle with the spices, salt, pepper and oil. Make sure that everything is well coated.
- Roast in the oven for around 25 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.
- Mix the butter beans and pasatta into the tray and place in the oven for a further 5 – 10 minutes, until everything is pipping hot.
- Serve with rice, pasta, quinoa or alone as a light meal.
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