Useful one-tray dinner ideas
Hands-off midweek meal inspiration, plus a recipe for golden-edged, spicy baked gnocchi with burrata and leeks
Before we get started, a huge thank you for subscribing, sharing and supporting The Frazzled Cook. I’ve rarely written anything so personal, and it was a big ‘eek’ moment to share it with you all this week. The response has been seriously heartwarming, and I’m excited to keep going.
And so to matters more practical. This week’s newsletter is all about the humble one-tray dinner. There’s a reason traybakes are so enduringly popular. The idea of chucking everything into a roasting dish and letting the oven do the work has mass appeal for anyone who doesn’t have the luxury of loads of time to cook (hi!).
Follow a few simple principles, and you can switch up the flavours to your heart’s content. Plus, there’s less washing up, which my husband, AKA chief kitchen porter, is always thankful for.
First, consider the cooking times of your various components – hardier veg like carrots and parsnips will take longer than tender brussels sprouts, for example. Incorporate a protein – whether chicken thighs, slices of halloumi, or tinned chickpeas – and liquid, like a tin of tomatoes, a spoonful of harissa or a jar of pesto. Then think about how to create some all-important crunch – torn, leftover crusty bread, a scattering of seeds, or a handful of nuts all work well.
The quick recipe ideas below are just jumping off points – you can swap out the ingredients to suit whatever’s lurking in your fridge. Then a recipe containing a new (to me) way of transforming a pack of shop-bought gnocchi into a flavoursome and veg-packed dinner.
Trusty traybake ideas
Harissa-spiced cauliflower and chickpea
Arrange cauliflower florets, onions, peppers, garlic cloves, cherry tomatoes and a tin of drained chickpeas in a roasting tin. Toss with harissa paste, honey and olive oil. Roast at 200C fan until charred and tender on the inside, then scatter with mint and dill to serve.
One-tray ‘chilli’
Chop sweet potato into chunks (leaving the skin on) and add to a tray with two quartered red onions, one tin of black beans and one tin of tomatoes. Stir in a teaspoon each of smoked paprika, cumin and chipotle chilli paste and drizzle with oil. Bake at 180C fan until the potatoes are tender, then top with fresh coriander and soured cream.
Potato, pea and paneer tikka
Squeeze the juice of a lime over a sliced red onion and set aside. Meanwhile, add new potatoes, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and turmeric to a roasting tray with a drizzle of oil. Bake for 15 minutes then add cubed paneer cheese and a spoonful of tikka paste. Bake again until the cheese has crisped up at the edges, adding a handful of frozen peas for the final 3 minutes. Finish with the pickled onions.
Warm panzanella
Add chunky chopped carrots, red onions, parsnips and celeriac (or any root veg you fancy) to a tray. Drizzle with olive oil and add hardy herbs like rosemary and thyme as well as a splash of balsamic. Roast until tender, adding torn leftover sourdough for the final 5 minutes or so. Crumble over some gorgonzola, if you like.
Roasted gnocchi with leeks and burrata
I was very late to the ‘sheet pan gnocchi’ party. Having tried this circa 2021-social media-famous technique, in which gnocchi is roasted until golden and crisp-edged with ingredients that form a sauce as it cooks, I admit it’s one of few Tik Tok food trends I can vouch for. This version makes the most of winter leeks, which take on a caramel sweetness when roasted, and jarred Calabrian chilli paste, which is a stalwart in my kitchen. The burrata is totally optional but will elevate this dish from a thrifty midweek dinner to something a bit more luxurious.
Serves 2 very hungry people
Ingredients
2 leeks, washed, trimmed and cut into 4cm chunks
2 medium red onions, peeled cut into wedges
6 cloves garlic, skins on
1 red pepper, chopped into 4cm chunks
1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp Calabrian chilli paste (I use one from M&S. Chilli pesto works in its place)
1 pack (400g) gnocchi
1 burrata, to serve (optional)
A handful of rocket, to serve (optional)
Preheat the oven to 180C fan. Arrange the leeks, onions, garlic and pepper on a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. Season then roast for around 10 minutes, or until the veg is starting to become tender.
Stir in the chilli paste and tinned tomatoes. Season. Return to the oven for another 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have reduced.
Remove from the oven. Squish the garlic cloves from their skins, discarding the skins, and mash into the sauce. Finally, add the gnocchi to the tin and return to the oven on for a further 10 minutes, until the gnocchi has crisped up.
Tear over the burrata and scatter over the gnocchi, drizzle with olive oil and serve.
Switch it up
Use crumbled feta or torn mozzarella instead of burrata.
In season (and when the supply is better) this would work with 400g cherry tomatoes instead of the tinned versions
Swap the veg to use up whatever you’ve got to hand – try cubed butternut squash, broccoli or shallots.
Add a tin of cannellini beans along with the tomatoes to bulk out this recipe to serve a family of four.
Use it up
Leftover roast veg is good in a sandwich or cooked with eggs in a frittata
Blitz any remaining rocket into pesto with olive oil, toasted almonds, lemon juice and a little parmesan
PS – this week I’m loving…
LGM crispy chilli in oil. I’m putting it on everything from scrambled eggs to soups and stir-fries – spicy and addictive.
Tried my hand at the cauliflower and chickpea traybake the other day and it was flipping great. Best part about it was that the recipe was so straightforward that I’ve now got it memorised!
Omg the gnocchi traybake sounds amazing, need to try this asap (once I’ve survived this week with toddler illness and toddler birthday parties at the weekend 🫣)