My Great Grandma's Roasted Vegetables, Potenzese Style

By cookinginvictoria • November 18, 2010 • 0 Comments

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Author Notes: My Great Grandma immigrated to America from Potenza, Basilicata, Italy at the beginning of the 20th century. She used to make this dish, as did my Grandma and my mother. Now I have inherited the recipe, and I have made it mine with a few modifications. What makes this more interesting than ordinary roasted vegetables, to my mind, is the addition of the cheese/breadcrumb/olive oil/spices topping. It emerges from the oven, golden and crunchy, and gives the vegetables a lovely texture and flavor. This side dish is divine with any protein, but I have taken to making it for holiday dinners, as an accompaniment to prime rib and roasted turkey, since my husband is not a fan of mashed potatoes. This recipe is also easy to put together and very versatile. I have written it, with the ingredients I most often use, but it is also yummy with other vegetables (small baby turnips are a good addition as are baby beets -- use golden or Chioggia beets if you can find them). - cookinginvictoria

Serves 6-8

2 large red onions, each halved and cut into 2-inch chunks (each onion should yield about 6-8 pieces)
8 small potatoes (I prefer Yukon Gold), each washed, peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
8 small sweet potatoes, each washed and peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
3 bell peppers (ideally different colors: red, yellow and orange), seeded and sliced into broad pieces (2-3 inches wide is good)
4 carrots, each washed and peeled and cut into 2-inch chunks
1 fennel bulb, trimmed (slice off bottom and stalks and cut the bulb into 2-inch chunks
1 garlic bulbs, separated but not peeled
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, plus a little more to grease the pan, divided
1/2 cup dried bread crumbs, such as Panko
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
3 tablespoons fresh Italian herbs (I usually do a mix of basil, parsley, rosemary, and oregano) or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried herbs
Salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In large roasting pan, add small amount of olive oil (roughly a couple of teaspoons) to bottom of pan and with fingers or pastry brush, rub oil over bottom surface of pan.
In large bowl, add vegetables (onions through garlic). Drizzle 1/4 cup oil onto vegetables and mix with your hands or tongs, until all vegetables are coated with oil. Add salt and pepper, and mix again.
Add vegetables to roasting pan, and put in oven. Roast for about 20 minutes.
In small bowl, add topping ingredients (bread crumbs, through red pepper flakes, if using). Drizzle remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil onto breadcrumb mixture. Stir until combined.
Take roasting pan out of oven and add bread crumb mixture to vegetables. Mix together using a gentle hand. You want at least 1/2 of the bread crumbs as a topping for the vegetables, but you also want some of the bread crumb mixture to get crunchy on the bottom of the pan. Put back in oven and continue roasting. Vegetables are done when they can be easily pierced with a sharp knife or skewer and the breadcrumb topping looks golden and caramelized. Taste and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Mangia!