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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Marmalade pears

Soft pears, giving and laden with juice, their cooking liquor scented with bitter marmalade and the sweetness of honey. They are best served warm or at room temperature, with cream or just their thickened, golden juice. Serves 3. Ready in 1 hour

pears 3, medium
apple juice 200ml
orange marmalade 150g
marsala, sweet or dry 1 tbsp
honey 1 heaped tbsp
vanilla ice-cream to serve

Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Peel the pears, cut them in half from stem to base and scoop out their cores. Cut each half into 3, then place in a nonstick roasting tin.

In a small saucepan, bring the apple juice, marmalade, marsala and honey to the boil, 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 carry on anyway. Let the pears bake for a further 20 minutes, then lift them out of the oven and test for tenderness with the point of a small knife. If tender, remove the pears – but not their syrup – to a serving dish.

Put the pan on the hob and turn the heat up under the marmalade syrup, so it bubbles enthusiastically. Watch carefully as it starts to thicken to a light coating consistency, then spoon over the pears and serve warm or cool (but not chilled). Serve with vanilla ice-cream.

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