Looking for a Sunday-style roast but without the fuss? As much as I adore a Sunday roast, it’s an all day thing or close to it. Sure, you can leave the roast in the oven and putter around the house or go out for a quick lunch, but realistically, you need to be nearby to make sure all is going well.
And, perhaps that’s the whole purpose of a Sunday roast – to keep everyone at home. It lends for more family time; chatting while the dinner is in prep mode. For me, though, my kids are too far away for them to pop over for the afternoon. Unless we have our friends over, it’s just the two of us so a chunk of meat has to be given careful consideration to make sure there’s no waste. Last week I craved a roast dinner but on a week night. I had some root vegetables and three Italian sausages in the fridge. Roasted vegetables are a favorite in our home and sausage, well, who doesn’t like a good sausage? The bonus side of this dish is one cooking vessel = less to clean up.
Sunchokes make a lovely potato substitute for this recipe. Also known as Jerusalem artichokes, they are the knobby tuberous roots of a native North American plant from the sunflower family. The root tastes a bit like an artichoke. Eaten raw, they have a taste and crunch similar to a water chestnut while roasted the taste falls somewhere between that of a potato and a water chestnut. Roasting brings out a sweet, nutty flavor.
Serves 2
3 to 4 sausages
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
6 cloves of garlic (skin left on)
6 to 8 sunchokes, washed and quartered (amount will vary depending on size)
2 to 3 carrots, peeled and quartered (rainbow colored carrots, if you have)
1/2 bell pepper, sliced
handful cherry tomatoes
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350f. In a large roasting pan add all ingredients except for sausages, olive oil, and thyme. Add a generous splash of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Place sausages on top of the veggies along with fresh time. Try not to crowd the veggies or they’ll end up steaming rather than roasting. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes or until vegetables are soft or al dente.
The Culinary Chase’s Note: If you do use potatoes, parboil, drain and add to roasting pan. Don’t be tempted to pierce the skins of the sausage, you’ll end up with dried out sausage meat. Uniformed vegetable slices means uniformed cooking. Roasted garlic develops a delicious sweet flavor and the raw garlic character is lost. Squeeze the garlic out of its skin and distribute between plates. Roast more garlic cloves and use in salad dressings, dips or spread on rustic bread and top with slices of tomato and fresh basil. Enjoy!
- 3 to 4 sausages
- 1 small onion, peeled and quartered
- 6 cloves of garlic (skin left on)
- 6 to 8 sunchokes, washed and quartered (amount will vary depending on size)
- 2 to 3 carrots, peeled and quartered (rainbow colored carrots, if you have)
- ½ bell pepper, sliced
- handful cherry tomatoes
- 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
- olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat oven to 350f.
- In a large roasting pan add all ingredients except for sausages, olive oil, and thyme. Add a generous splash of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Place sausages on top of the veggies along with fresh time. Try not to crowd the veggies or they’ll end up steaming rather than roasting.
- Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes or until vegetables are soft or al dente.
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