Sweet Roasted Carrots

I do most of the cooking in our family, but occasionally Ryan steps in and decides to take over the kitchen.  When he does this, he goes all out and researches his recipes in his very engineering sort of way.  He likes to understand the science behind everything he makes so no surprise that one of his favorite cooking publications is Cook’s Illustrated.    He once used the Cook’s Illustrated method to make these roasted carrots and they were the best roasted carrots I’d ever had.  They were perfectly browned, tender, and intensely sweet.  

Cook’s Illustrated recommends covering the carrots with foil during the first 15 minutes of roasting to “precook” the carrots.  Skipping this step would allow the release of too much water thus resulting in tiny little shriveled carrots.  I slightly reduced the amount of butter and added in some olive oil because I found that the carrots were a little too heavily soaked with butter in the original recipe.  I used rainbow carrots just for fun, but I think they make all the difference, don’t you?  Roasted carrots make a  simple and beautiful addition to warm fall dinners.

Sweet Roasted Carrots

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2. Cut carrots in half crosswise, and then cut lengthwise to make even sized pieces.
3. In a large bowl, combine carrots with butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Transfer carrots to prepared baking sheet and spread into a single layer. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil.
4. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue to roast for 30 minutes, until carrots are well-browned and tender. Use a metal spatula to flip the carrots once or twice during the roasting. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.

Notes

slightly adapted from Cook’s Illustrated