Baked Veggies

[dwnwrdishvnwrd]

If anybody is familiar with Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix? It's an awesome joint. The owner, Chris Bianco, is a food genius. The man is wicked smart with his stuff. He makes these awesome antipasto plates and he always has baked veggies on there. I asked him one night how he cooks his veggies and he told me. He said it works for most veggies that he can think of and it's awesome. So far I've used his method for beets, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, garbanzo beans, cannellini beans, bartlett pears (I know, it sounds weird but the pears come out with this sweet, smoky, salty taste that is so good) and some others and it works.

Preheat oven to 325. Toss the veggies in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet and bake em for 20 minutes. It may take a little longer to cook the carrots so I've found. It's simple and they come out tasting so much more complex than just olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bay leaves can also be baked with the veggies to add that bay leavy herby flavor. The cannellini and garbanzo beans split open using this method and the skin become very crispy. Super tasty stuff.

And if you're ever in Phoenix go to Pizzeria Bianco. Best pizza ever. Seriously.

 

[tsmba]

Sounds like a great place! It makes perfect sense to me....dry cooking concentrates and enhances flavors rather than diluting them. Besides that, its easy!

 

[murchmb]

No to derail the veggie discussion, but Peter Reinhart wrote a book on pizza called "American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza." He traveled the U.S. and Italy in search of the perfect pizza. Pizzeria Bianco was his choice for perfection. A fun and interesting read.

 

[Ceezer]

And we're talking fresh veggies, right?

I'm curious as to how the beets turn out. Have you tried them?

 

[galopede]

Been roasting veg like that for years. Best way of cooking them. Squash is good too.

Gareth

 

[mikromicke]

And if you add a bit of goat cheese things get even better

 

[mretzloff]

And if you add a bit of goat cheese things get even better

+1

Cheese (and bacon ) make many things better.

 

[tsmba]

I was intrigued by Pepin's idea of roasting greens in the oven. On his "Fast Food My Way" he takes washed kale, dresses it with a little olive oil and seasoning, then bakes it in a slow oven until crispy. I know green, leafy veggies are good for you, but many folks avoid them as more traditional cooking methods tend to yield over-cooked mush.

 

[dwnwrdishvnwrd]

And we're talking fresh veggies, right?

I'm curious as to how the beets turn out. Have you tried them?

The beets come out really well. Nice and sweet. Chris tells me that he bakes them whole after peeling but I sliced em up.

I can also understand that with the kale. The best part of the brussel sprouts are the crunchy little sprout chips from the leaves that fall off. Awesome. I'm gonna have to try that with kale.

 

[tsmba]

I'm looking forward to trying Brussels sprouts like this. All of the cruciferous veggies can take on an odor when overcooked that turns folks off. It seems roasting would be a way around that.

 

[galopede]

My favourite way with Brussels Sprouts is to cut them in half and stir fry them with garlic and ginger. Lovely.

Gareth

 

[Monkeydad]

Preheat oven to 325. Toss the veggies in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet and bake em for 20 minutes. It may take a little longer to cook the carrots so I've found. It's simple and they come out tasting so much more complex than just olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bay leaves can also be baked with the veggies to add that bay leavy herby flavor. The cannellini and garbanzo beans split open using this method and the skin become very crispy. Super tasty stuff.

I've always made potato wedges with this same procedure and a few more spices. Works great. I should try other veggies.

 

[wolffie]

Pizzeria Bianco is one of my "dream" food destinations. I keep reading articles and seeing pictures of the food he cooks and would love to stop by and have a chat with him.

My understanding is that all of his pizzas are cooked in a wood fired oven. Is that how he also cooks his vegetables, or does he use a regular oven? I would suspect that his wood fired oven is quite a bit hotter than 350F, so cooking vegetables might not be an option.

I've done roasted beets before, but I never seem to be able to get over the "dirt" taste. Mixing them with a little goat cheese and a balsamic vinegar improves the flavor, but the "dirt" is still hard to overcome. Will have to try the roasted kale, that sounds good. I always throw in a few whole shallots when roasting like this to add some extra flavor to mix.

 

[dwnwrdishvnwrd]

Pizzeria Bianco is one of my "dream" food destinations. I keep reading articles and seeing pictures of the food he cooks and would love to stop by and have a chat with him.

My understanding is that all of his pizzas are cooked in a wood fired oven. Is that how he also cooks his vegetables, or does he use a regular oven? I would suspect that his wood fired oven is quite a bit hotter than 350F, so cooking vegetables might not be an option.

It's one of my favorite joints and I'm lucky it here in Phoenix. He's actually really open to having a little chat, especially after he gets off. He stopped by the Rose & Crown right across the way and had a drink one night and that's when he gave me his method on cooking his veggies.

His oven is hot. He sticks a pizza in and it's seriously done four minutes later. When it's done he picks it up and swirls around the smoke lingering at the top of the oven for some extra special goodness.