The Sheet Pan Craze & The Green Roasting Tin 🌞

The Sheet Pan Craze

April 6, 2023
Nancy Pollard

After owning one of the best cooking stores in the US for 47 years—
La Cuisine in Alexandria, Virginia—Nancy Pollard writes Kitchen
Detail, a blog about food in all its aspects—recipes, film, books, travel,
superior sources, and food-related issues.

Sheet-Pan Rant

SLAMMED VERTICALLY in a cupboard in my kitchen are at least six half-size (18x13in/46x33cm) sheet pans (full size is 26×18 in/66x46cm), plus two quarter-size (13x9in/33x23cm) and one really cute one-eighth one (6x9in/15x23cm), which I use for roasting nuts or making an extra-mini focaccia. I have two full-size carbon-steel baking sheets from France lounging in my oven. These work as well as the very heavy US-made cast-iron sheet used to help browning and are less cumbersome.

In the final years of the La Cuisine shop we noticed the trend of cookbooks marketing the idea of making complete meals in a sheet pan. We tried a couple of US titles. To say that the few recipes we tried were unsuccessful would be an understatement. Over-roasted veg along with some mildly cooked protein, sometimes a sea of liquid. A DC food writer on Instagram, @dchagedorn, occasionally posts acerbic comments on sheet-pan all-in-one recipe efforts. He’s on-point and frequently hilarious.

US title Dinner's In The Oven by Rukmini IyerThe UK division of my family, however, alerted me to two books by Rukmini Iyer that had given them some successful sheet-pan dinners. My daughter uses her book on “tray meals,” one with meat, poultry, and fish, and one that is vegetarian and vegan. I have purchased both Dinner’s in the Oven: Simple One-Pan Meals and The Green Roasting Tin: Vegan and Vegetarian One Dish Dinners, and have certainly had to adjust her recipes, but she has some really good ideas. One is the carrot and Taleggio cheese tart, in which I opted for carrots sliced thinly on the diagonal instead of her version, which leaves them whole. The other is her orzo and cherry tomato traybake.


https://mylittlebird.com/2023/04/sheet-pan-craze/





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CRISPY GNOCCHI WITH MUSHROOMS,
SQUASH & SAGE

This is a lovely autumnal dish. Mushrooms and squash are a great
pairing, and the sage brings it all together. Serve with a quick basil
dressing for a flavourful dinner on a cold night.

Serves: 2

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes

500g (17 1/2 oz) gnocchi
500g (17 1/2 oz) squash, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
300g (10 1/2 oz) baby chestnut mushrooms
3 tablespoons olive oil
20g (1 Tbsp + 1 tsp) fresh sage leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

DRESSING

30g ( 1 oz) fresh basil, very finely chopped
30g ( 1 oz) pine nuts, finely chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove of garlic, finely grated
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ tablespoon lemon juice

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/gas 7.(400° F - 425° F)

2. Put the gnocchi into a large bowl and pour
over a kettleful of boiling water. Leave to
stand for 2 minutes, then drain well.

3. Mix the gnocchi with the squash, mushrooms,
oil and sage leaves in a roasting tin large
enough to take everything in one layer.
Season well with the salt and black pepper,
then transfer to the oven and roast for 35
minutes.

4. Meanwhile, mix the basil, pine nuts, oil, garlic,
sea salt and lemon juice together for the
dressing, then taste and adjust the seasoning
as needed.

5. Serve the crispy gnocchi with the dressing
alongside.


From "The Green Roasting Tin" by Rukmini Iyer
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36356622-the-green-roasting-tin

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ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH CHICKPEAS,
SPRING GREENS, LEMON & TAHINI

Cauliflower was made to be roasted, and the spices in this dish work
perfectly with the tahini dressing. Make sure you use a big enough
roasting tin, so the cauliflower can crisp up along with the chickpeas. An
easy, flavourful dinner.

Serves: 4

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes

1 large cauliflower, cut into large florets
1 x 400g (14 oz) tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 large red onion, quartered
200g (7 oz) spring greens
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons sea salt

DRESSING

60g (2 oz) tahini
1 lemon, juice only
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

TO SERVE

25g (1 oz) fresh coriander, roughly chopped
40g ( 1 1/2 oz) pumpkin seeds, toasted
Warm flatbreads

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C/gas 6. (400° F)

2. Tip the cauliflower, chickpeas, red onion and
spring greens into a large roasting tin and mix
well with the oil, spices and sea salt. Transfer
to the oven and roast for 25–30 minutes, until
the cauliflower is just cooked through.

3. Meanwhile, mix the tahini with the lemon
juice, oil, water, salt and black pepper, adding
a little more water as needed to get a nice
spoonable consistency. Taste and adjust the
salt and lemon juice as needed.

4. Drizzle the dressing over the hot roasted
cauliflower, scatter with the coriander and
pumpkin seeds and serve with warm
flatbreads

From "The Green Roasting Tin" by Rukmini Iyer
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36356622-the-green-roasting-tin


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ALL-IN-ONE SWEET POTATO THAI CURRY

For me this is the perfect one-pot dish – everything in at the same time,
then a gentle, even stint in the oven – like a casserole, but quicker. The
flavours of the coconut, lemongrass and chilli really infuse together as it
cooks – a comforting, soupy noodle sort of dish.

Serves: 2
Prep: 5 minutes
Cook: 45 minutes

750g (1lb 10 1/2 oz) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm slices
1 stick of lemongrass, broken
5cm (2 in) ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, grated
1 large red chilli, halved lengthways
1 x 400ml (13 oz) tin of coconut milk, stirred
500ml (17 1/2 oz) boiling vegetable stock
2 packets of fine straight-to-wok cooked noodles
1 lime, juice only
25g (1 oz) fresh coriander, leaves only


From "The Green Roasting Tin" by Rukmini Iyer
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36356622-the-green-roasting-tin

Pay close attention while using this method, and you'll have great
results every time!