Ciao a tutti!!
Italians have an ample supply of veggies everywhere! Since the temperatures in Italy stay pretty consistent and it is usually warm year round, especially farther south, vegetables can grow all year. This is great for vegans, since we need a huge supply of veggies to satisfy us!!
In many parts of Italy, baked veggies is a favorite contorno, meaning side dish. Many times they are grilled over a flame or also sotto olio, literally under oil, meaning they have been marinated for a while and then put into jars. Grilled vegetables are delicious, but we don’t always have access to an open flame — that is where our baked veggies come in!
You can pick and choose pretty much anything you want. Most traditional recipes use breadcrumbs over the veggies – but if you buy breadcrumbs in the store, they may have added preservatives and MAY also contain lardo or strutto, which is pig fat. Sometimes there is also latte or milk or other dairy products, so just watch out.
I skip the breadcrumbs altogether and do the veggies like this:
1.) Choose the veggies.
2.) Slice the veggies.
3.) Lay all the veggies onto a baking tin.
4.) Sprinkle with fine ground almonds, or any ground nuts work (each has their own distinct flavor, give it a try and experiment!)
5.) Sprinkle the chickpea flour on top. Fine ground chickpea flour works best.
6.) Add salt to taste and add any other spices you like. I like to add nutmeg, oregano or curry (even if curry is not really Italian).
7.) Pour on some olive oil, enough to cover all the vegetables but not too much that they are swimming in olive oil.
8.) Put into over and cook until the vegetables are soft and have started to brown a bit.
9.) Take out of over and MANGIA!
by 