4 hours Ago By Katrina Meynink
Holy sheet season is upon us, as we drag our way to the finish line. It’s always such a busy time of year, and I think the ease of one baking tray at a time is key to survival as silly season hits its straps. The following tray bakes are easy, minimal on the washing up (vanilla slice aside) and worth adding to your hectic mid-week repertoire.
Sheet pan pizza of the gods There’s nothing greater than piping hot pizza fresh from the oven, indecently laden with mozzarella, olives and pepperoni doing their best to escape their carby base. INGREDIENTS Dough Topping To serve METHOD Serves 6 Spring roll crunchy rice salad This is an emotional support salad. It has everything we need: freshness; crisp, crunch and contrast; a wisp of spice; colour; and a touch of take-out vibes.
For this to reach peak ASMR , assemble it just before you eat. I pull the tray from the oven, plop the salad elements on top and take the tray to the table for everyone to help themselves. INGREDIENTS Dressing To serve METHOD Serves 2-4 Note: Extra spring rolls are always a good idea, but I suggest cooking them on another tray – you need to give everything a little bit of space to breathe and crisp up.
Overcrowded sheet pans don’t give you the one-two punch of crisp and crunch. Patatas bravas, double the sauce We can’t all be making our way through Spain’s tapas bars, but we can have the same intent with our potatoes. Here, spiced potatoes are roasted until golden and served with a nontraditional red sauce that’s more romesco than brava, so I call it kind-of brava.
I also love a garlic aioli. And offering both sauces with a spread of roasted carbs will make you friends every day of the week. INGREDIENTS Potato spice blend Kind-of brava sauce Garlic aioli METHOD Serves 6 as part of a spread The right kind of vanilla slice So many atrocities of this classic (aka the snot block) are out there.
Stay safe and make your own – you will be rewarded with a thing of beauty. The key is to ditch the cornflour that so many recipes call for. It’s like eating the inside of your primary school tidy tray with a mouthfeel of chalk and clag glue.
You need egg yolks, gelatin, a whisk and a little elbow grease. And you must caramelise your puff pastry first − this is of dire importance to add the requisite textural contrast to the centre. Note: If you have four flat baking trays, you can bake both pastry pieces at once, just swap oven shelves midway through cooking so they colour evenly.
You can gussy up the passionfruit drizzle any way you like. I scattered elderflowers over the top, but you could also strew finely sliced makrut lime leaves – different in flavour, but equally delightful. INGREDIENTS Vanilla centre Passionfruit drizzle METHOD Serves about 12.
