Sunday 15 April 2012

Roasted Vegetables with a twist

Oven: 200 C
Ingredients:
4 courgettes - top'd and tailed and cut into about 4 or 5 lengthways slices
1 aubergine - top'd and tailed and sliced lengthways into several slices
approx. 8 - 10 tiny tomatoes
8 - 10 cloves of garlic (unpeeled)
handful of plain cashew nuts
small amount of sugar (demerara)
Olive Oil, freshly ground black pepper, small amount of butter for greasing dish
Salt

1. Lay your sliced aubergine and courgettes on a tray and sprinkle salt over.  Cover and leave them for approx. 1/2 hr. then pat off the excess moisture and salt with paper kitchen roll.

2. Place the veg slices in your buttered ovenproof dish and squish the tomatoes over the top. Adding some pepper and sugar.

3. Add your handful of cashews, sprinkle the vegetables well with olive oil and a very small amount of salt - turn all well together with your hands so they are nicely coated.

4. Tuck the garlic cloves under the veggies so they dont dry out when in the oven.

5. Roast for about 1/2 hr to 45 mins - uncovered - check to see the veg are soft and cooked through and colouring a little.

6. Place them in a pretty dish - discarding the 'paper' from the garlic cloves.

7. Add a small amount of hot water to the roasting dish and swish round - so the remaining oil and juices are mixed, then pour this over the veggies.

These are delicious on warm toast or bread - spread some of the garlic on instead of butter - very yummy.  You could also use pinenuts instead of cashews - but again, make sure, when roasting, these are tucked underneath the veggie slices.

This can also be used with pasta - either chop the vegetables or partly liquidise.

No comments: