Roasted Root Vegetable Bake with Goat Cheese and Thyme
- Savory
- Oven
Roasted carrots, parsnips and beetroot tossed with honey and thyme, then baked under crumbled goat cheese. A savory-sweet vegetarian bake straight from the oven.
- Total
- 85 min
- Prep 20 · Cook 55 · Rest 10
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
You'll practice: Roasting · Caramelizing
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 200°C. Peel the carrots, parsnips and beetroot, then cut them into 2 cm chunks. Peel the red onion and cut it into 2 cm wedges.
~15 min
Cut the beetroot slightly smaller than the carrots and parsnips: it is denser and takes a little longer to become tender.
-
Put all the vegetables in a large baking dish, add the olive oil, 1 tsp salt and 0.5 tsp black pepper and toss until evenly coated. Spread them in a single layer.
~5 min
A single layer lets hot air circulate around each piece, so the vegetables brown and caramelize instead of steaming and turning soggy.
Roasting Spread vegetables in a single layer with space between them and stir once halfway; crowding the dish traps steam and gives pale, soft roots instead of browned edges.
-
Roast the vegetables for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway, until they are tender and the edges are browned.
~30 min
Stirring halfway exposes new surfaces to the hot oven, giving more even browning and preventing the pieces on the bottom from scorching.
Roasting Spread vegetables in a single layer with space between them and stir once halfway; crowding the dish traps steam and gives pale, soft roots instead of browned edges.
-
While step 3 cooks
While the vegetables roast, mix the honey with 1 tbsp thyme in a small bowl.
~2 min
-
Pour the honey and thyme mixture over the roasted vegetables and toss to coat. Crumble the goat cheese over the top.
~3 min
Adding the honey now rather than earlier stops its sugars burning during the long roast, so it glazes instead of turning bitter.
Caramelizing Add the honey only for the final bake and watch for bubbling and golden edges; sugar added too early scorches before the vegetables are tender.
-
Return the dish to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the honey bubbles and the goat cheese is golden at the edges.
~15 min
The final blast of heat caramelizes the honey and browns the cheese, building a savory-sweet crust on top of the tender roots.
Roasting Spread vegetables in a single layer with space between them and stir once halfway; crowding the dish traps steam and gives pale, soft roots instead of browned edges.
Caramelizing Add the honey only for the final bake and watch for bubbling and golden edges; sugar added too early scorches before the vegetables are tender.
-
Let the bake rest for 10 minutes before serving so the juices settle.
~10 min
Resting lets the hot juices redistribute and thicken slightly, so the bake holds together and does not flood the plate.
