I’ll be honest with you, the first time I made this I was grumpy and I had mini melt-down. Ryan had to step in and help because I was being pouty and said things like “I quit,” and “it’s ruined.” The reason for all this drama is that I didn’t give myself time to make a new recipe slowly. I didn’t have cold water to make the pie crust. The kitchen was hot and the dough wouldn’t roll. I was hungry. I thought the steps were easy, and I wanted it to be done right now. 

The steps are easy, and even with my hissyfit, everything came out nicely. Although today’s photos are from the second time I made the recipe. But what I’m trying to advise, is that when you’re cooking be patient, give yourself plenty of time, and it’s ok if it doesn’t come out perfect. Even the recipes we know how to make well can be a pain when we are rushed, hungry, and grumpy. When you’re cooking, take your time and enjoy it. If you want to rush and are too hungry to wait, then definitely defrost something or get take out.

This recipe is fairly straightforward and very flavorful. It’s roasted root vegetables wrapped in a free-form pie crust. No pie pan is required! You can use whatever pie crust recipe or store-bought version you like. As well, pick whatever root vegetables you prefer, but I’ll let you know what I chose below. What makes this recipe is the thyme and balsamic. It makes the whole thing fragrant and delicious. Even though pie crust isn’t so healthy (at least the way I make it), I think this is such a great way to eat a bunch of vegetables.

Adapted from the Gourmet Housewife

Directions

Pie crust:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp shortening

cup of cold water (you won’t need it all)

Filling:

2 parsnips, peeled and cubed

1 turnip, peeled and cubed

2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 medium carrots, peeled and cubed

1 red onion, cut into chuncks

thyme (about 4-6 sprigs)

salt

pepper

balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the vegetables on top, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme leaves.

3. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool just a little bit. Turn oven down to 350°.

4. While the vegetables are cooking make the pie crust. In a medium bowl mix together the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening. This means use two knives and chop up the shortening until it is pea sized. Then, add 1 tbsp of cold water and mix it with a fork, into the flour mixture. Keep adding water and mixing until you get a dough that sticks together (about 4-5 tbsp).

5. Take your dough, put it on a floured work surface, and roll it out until it’s 1/4″ thick. If you’re having trouble rolling out your dough, put it between two pieces of parchment paper, then roll out it out that way. This worked for me because then the dough didn’t get too hot and it held its shape.

6. Now, put the vegetables in the middle of your pie crust. All of the vegetables might not fit just yet. Drizzle with balsamic. Then scoop up the edges of the pie crust and fold them on top of the vegetables. You aren’t trying to cover them entirely, this is more of an open face pie. Then, if you have any extra vegetables you can spoon them on top in the open part. Drizzle with more balsamic if you’d like.

7. Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the pie crust is light brown.

8. Slice and serve.

Messy level: I’m giving this three spoons because of the pie crust. Ordinarily, I don’t think pie crust is that hard. But, pie crust gets mushy when it’s hot and spooning hot vegetables on to pie crust leads to a little bit of a mess. It’s not unbearable, but it’s kind of annoying. Otherwise, chopping and roasting is pretty mess free.

The post Root Vegetable Galette appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Yes, you read that right, I’m a big fan of Brussels sprouts. Growing up, I had always seen on kids on TV scrunch up their faces, stick out their tongues, and groan “eww Brussels sprouts.” So, I thought they were going to be gross and inedible. But then, a few years ago my friend Emily got them in her farm share and had me over and served them to me for dinner. I was nervous. I was 25 years old, I’d never tried a Brussels sprout, and I didn’t want to embarrass myself by refusing to eat my veggies. I cautiously speared one with my fork and tried it. And I liked it! Everything I had thought before was wrong! It was like when the character in Green Eggs and Ham finally tries the green eggs and ham, and realizes that after repeatedly saying  “I do not like them Sam-I-Am,” his world is blown and he does in fact like the new and strange looking food.

So now I’m crazy about Brussels sprouts. When they’re well-cooked I just want to scarf each sprout down like it’s a handful of popcorn. And this recipe is that good. I ate them fresh from the oven and later warmed in the microwave. I also ate them cold, while riding a school bus with fifth-graders after a field trip. This recipe is good in all conditions. Before I found this recipe, I found a lot of other recipes I didn’t want to make.  Apparently a ton of Brussels sprouts recipes include bacon. Don’t get me wrong, bacon is great. But I didn’t want to have to make bacon just to make the dish. And I wanted to make something that would let the vegetable flavors shine. I also wanted to roast the Brussels sprouts because I love when the inside is soft and chewy while the outside leaves are crispy, blackened, and a bit sweet.

Today’s recipe is adapted from a Whole Foods recipe. I was nervous about the proportions of rosemary, pine nuts, and cheese because I thought they would overpower the Brussels sprouts. I was wrong. The rosemary adds a great scent that evokes memories of the holidays and helped get me excited about the colder fall weather. The pine nuts add a nice toasty crunch. And finally the cheese… ahh the cheese. I love cheese, but I often feel that people use cheese to mask vegetables and I didn’t want to do that. So at first I added only two tablespoons of cheese. But Ryan, who never over cheeses anything, said he thought more cheese would be good because it really accentuated the flavors of the rest of the dish. So I think you should taste test between 2 tbsp and 1/4 cup to see what you like best. And if you’ve never had Brussels sprouts before, I hope you’ll try this  and let it change the way you think about this vegetable.

Ingredients:

1 pound Brussels sprouts

2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp pepper (or more to taste)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (use 1 tsp in using dried rosemary)

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Cut off any brown bottoms and pull of yellow leaves from Brussels sprouts.

3. Put the Brussels sprouts in a medium bowl. Add oil, pepper, salt, and rosemary. Stir until the sprouts are well coated.

4. Spread the Brussels sprouts on a rimmed baking sheet. Cook for 25 minutes.

5. Sprinkle the pine nuts over the roasted Brussels sprouts. Cook for 5 minutes more. By the end of cooking, nuts should have a darker brown color and the Brussels sprouts should be dark brown-black in color.

6. Remove Brussels sprouts from the oven. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Messy Level: 

This gets one spoon. The whole thing goes from bowl, to baking sheet, and then you can serve it back in the bowl you used for mixing. There is very little work and mess in this recipe!

The post Rosemary Brussels Sprouts with Pine Nuts and Parmesan Cheese appeared first on Cooking is Messy.