Culinary Interlude: Roasted vegetable spread

I don’t eat dairy, so I don’t put butter on my bread. My wife’s cholesterol spikes if she even looks at butter, so she (regretfully) follows my example to avoid emulating her mother’s triple bypass, or her younger brother’s doctor-mandated Lipitor dependence. This used to mean that we used olive oil, usually with some garlic and herbs instead. After all, any reason to consume olive oil is a good reason.

But recently, I’ve come up with something different. This is an original recipe, based on a vague memory of something I had in a restaurant about twenty years ago.

Roasted Vegetable Puree

2-3 carrots, coarsely chopped

2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped

1/2 medium onion, coarsely chopped

1 red or yellow potato, quartered

1 clove garlic

2-3 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons oil-packed (or rehydrated) sun-dried tomatoes

herbs of your choice (basil, thyme, parsley …)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Add carrots, celery, onion, potato and garlic to a roasting pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss to coat. Roast for approximately 40 minutes, stirring once.

When vegetables are roasted, remove from oven and place in a food processor. Add sun-dried tomatoes, remaining olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Process to a coarse puree.

Warm or room temperature, I use it on bread, on sandwiches and even on crackers. Let me know if you like it.

3 Comments »

  • […] at about four bucks a pop. We eat a lot of bread with our meals, dipped in olive oil or spread with roasted-vegetable puree, so I’ve purchased both in the past. But these days I mostly bake my […]

  • Jan says:

    Wow!!! I just made this. I threw a couple of turnips in mine because I had some. Y-U-M !!!! We tried it on some fresh toast and talk about some snack satisfaction! Seems like some nuts on top might be a nice variation from time to time. Do you recommend any in particular?

    This was very satisfying! Didn’t feel cheated, definitely didn’t taste like any kind of diet food, and actually has a gourmet feel to it. All this and it was inexpensive to make! Will stay-tuned for another recipe and any other modern home economics tips you might have!

  • J.D. Tuccille says:

    Turnips sound like a good addition. I bet parsnips and rutabagas would work well, too.

    Nut-wise, I think I would go with toasted pignolis (pine nuts). Pecans might be worth a try.

    For breakfast this morning, I spread the vegetable puree on toast, and topped it with a poached egg, sliced calamata olives and slivers of fresh basil. I definitely recommend that as a good way to start the day.

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