Tthe oven is on, the scent of thyme, rosemary and garlic beckons. There are vegetables to roast – parsnips, carrots and beetroot; red and golden roots to be served straight from the oven with cold milk burrata to run over them.
I put a shallow pan on the stove, a little butter and olive oil, then throw in a few handfuls of soft, white breadcrumbs. They sizzle and soak up the butter and oil and I stir them until they slowly turn crispy and golden. The crumbs, hot from the pan, are mixed with chopped parsley and scattered over the melted burrata. Sometimes I also add lemon zest or chopped anchovies, but not today. This time there’s pumpkin chopped up and mixed in with the roots, adding another level of sweetness, but also a soft and fluffy quality. With the exception of pumpkin, the sweet potato is a prime contender.
While the oven is on, we can also bake a dish with pears. Chubby and chunky comedians are my first choice, but others will work too. They take a while to make, but they get sweeter if I drizzle them with apple juice, honey, and marsala while they’re baking.
I remove them to a serving plate while the juices are transferred to the stove to bubble over high heat, thickening to a glossy honey glaze. Their progress should be watched carefully – they go from juice to caramel in the blink of an eye. After reaching the consistency of jam, the juice is poured over the pears and served with a jug of chilled cream.
Both recipes are good straight out of the oven, but they also work when slightly cooled. The good natural fit in our own time. Pears can be served with toasted breadcrumbs, especially those from vanilla-scented brioche toasted in a pan with a little butter until almost crisp.
Roasted vegetables with burrata
You can chop and substitute root vegetables, but this is a great way to use up the odd burger or parsnip you might have. When you break open the burrata skin, its soft, almost runny center oozes over the hot, roasted vegetables as a dressing. A sprinkling of toasted crumbs changes the texture.
Serves 4. Ready in 90 minutes
swedish 400 gr
parsnip 250 gr
carrots 2, average
beetroot 3, small
onion 2, large
olive oil 5 tbsp
pumpkin 300g, peeled
rosemary 6 stalks
thyme 6 stalks
garlic 5 cloves
the storm 4
For the crumbs:
soft white breadcrumbs 75 gr
olive oil 4 tbsp
parsley leaves 4 tbsp, finely chopped
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. You will also need a large baking tray.
Peel the swede (the skin becomes a little tough when baking), cut into large pieces, the size of a baked potato and put them in the baking dish. Do the same with the parsnips. Clean and cut the carrots into pieces of the same size.
Scrub and trim (but do not peel) the beets. Place them among the other vegetables. Peel the onion, cut in half, then cut each half into about 4 segments and add to the pan. Finely chop the pumpkin, add it to the pan and pour the oil over it. Chop the rosemary finely leaves and thyme (leave a few sprigs whole if you like), season with salt and pepper, coarsely ground, then toss everything together to coat evenly with oil and spices.
Peel the garlic and tuck it into the vegetables, then roast in the preheated oven for about 90 minutes, scattering them halfway through. Test them with a metal skewer – the tip should slide easily. If they are tender but still not well browned, increase the heat for a few minutes.
In a pan, fry the crumbs in olive oil until golden, turning them occasionally so that they color evenly. Stir in the parsley and remove from heat.
When the vegetables are tender and sizzling, transfer to serving plates, then place a whole burrata in each. Break the cheese and let the filling drip over the vegetables. Scatter over the breadcrumbs to finish.
Pears with marmalade
Soft pears, falling apart and loaded with juice, their cooking liquor redolent of bitter marmalade and the sweetness of honey. They are best served warm or at room temperature, with cream or just with their thickened golden juice. Serves 3. Ready in 1 hour
pears 3, average
apple juice 200 ml
orange marmalade 150 gr
marsala, sweet or dry 1 tbsp
honey 1 overflowing tbsp
vanilla ice cream to serve
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6. Peel the pears, halve them from stem to base and core them. Cut each half into 3, then place in a non-stick baking dish.
Bring the apple juice, marmalade, marsala and honey to the boil in a small saucepan, then remove from the heat and pour over the pears.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then turn them over. At this point they will look decidedly uninteresting, but keep going anyway. Leave the pears to bake for another 20 minutes, then remove them from the oven and test whether they are soft with the tip of a small knife. If they are tender, remove the pears – but not their syrup – to a serving plate.
Place the pan on the stove and turn up the heat under the marmalade syrup to bubbling enthusiastically. Watch carefully until it begins to thicken to a light coating consistency, then spoon over the pears and serve warm or chilled (but not chilled). Serve with vanilla ice cream.
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