Nigel Slater’s recipes for roast vegetables with burrata, and marmalade pears

A fragrant winter feast of caramelised pears and slow roasted veg with creamy cheese

Nigel Slater

Published in The Guardian Sun 1 Dec 2024 10.30 GMT

 

The oven is on, the scent of thyme, rosemary and garlic beckons. There are vegetables roasting – parsnips, carrots and beetroots; red and golden roots to be served straight from the oven with a cold, milk burrata to ooze over them.

I put a shallow pan on the hob, a little butter and olive oil, then toss in a few handfuls of soft, white breadcrumbs. They sizzle and soak up the butter and oil, and I stir them as they slowly turn crisp and golden. The crumbs, hot from the pan, will be stirred with chopped parsley and scattered over the melting burrata. Sometimes I put lemon zest or a chopped anchovy in, too, but not today. This time, there is pumpkin, cut thickly and mixed with the roots, adding another level of sweetness, but also bringing a soft and fudgy quality. Short of a pumpkin, sweet potato is a first-class contender.

 

 

While the oven is on, we might as well bake a dish of pears. Plump and portly comice are my first choice, but others will do. These take a while to cook, but do so more sweetly if I baste them with apple juice, honey and marsala as they bake.

I remove them to a serving dish while the juices are transferred to the hob to bubble over a high heat, thickening to a glossy, honey-like glaze. Their progress must be watched intently – they go from juice to toffee in the blink of an eye. Once edging towards the texture of jam, the juices are spooned over the pears, and serve with a jug of chilled cream.

Both of these recipes are good straight from the oven, but also work when they have a cooled a little. Good naturedly fitting in with our own timing. The pears could be served with toasted crumbs, especially those from a vanilla-scented brioche, toasted in a pan with a little butter until almost crisp.

Roast vegetables with burrata

You can chop and change the root veg, but this is an excellent way of using up the odd swede or parsnip you may have. As you break open the crust of the burrata, its soft, almost-liquid centre flows on to the hot, roasted vegetables like a dressing. The sprinkling of toasted crumbs introduces a change of texture.

 

Serves 4. Ready in 90 minutes

 

swede 400g
parsnips 250g
carrots 2, medium
beetroots 3, small
onions 2, large
olive oil 5 tbsp
pumpkin 300g, peeled
rosemary 6 sprigs
thyme 6 sprigs
garlic 5 cloves
burrata 4

 

For the crumbs:
soft white breadcrumbs 75g
olive oil 4 tbsp
parsley leaves 4 tbsp, finely chopped

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Method

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1. Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. You will also need a large roasting tin.

2. Peel the swede (the skin gets a tad tough when baked), then cut into large pieces, about the size of a roast potato, and put them into the roasting tin. Do the same with the parsnips. Scrub and cut the carrots into similar sized pieces.

3. Scrub and trim (but don’t peel) the beetroots. Tuck them among the other vegetables. Peel the onions, cut in half, then slice each half into about 4 segments and add to the tin. Chop the pumpkin, add to the tin, then pour in the oil. Finely chop the rosemary leaves and thyme (keep a few sprigs whole if you wish), season with salt and black pepper, coarsely ground, then toss everything together to evenly coat with oil and seasonings.

4. Peel the garlic and tuck among the vegetables, then roast in the preheated oven for about 90 minutes, tossing them around halfway through. Test them with a metal skewer – the tip should slide easily through. If they are tender, but not yet browned nicely, turn the heat up for a few minutes.

5. In a frying pan, toast the crumbs in the olive oil until they are golden brown, turning them occasionally, so they colour evenly. Stir in the parsley and remove from the heat.

6. When the vegetables are soft and sizzling, transfer to the serving plates, then nestle a whole burrata in each one. Break open the cheese and let the filling ooze over the vegetables. Scatter over the breadcrumbs to finish.