Gilbert - Sheet Pan Suppers

SHEET PAN SUPPERS *

120 RECIPES FOR SIMPLE, SURPRISING, HANDS-OFF MEALS STRAIGHT FROM THE OVEN

*Plus Breakfasts. Desserts. And Snacks, too!

Molly Gilbert

WORKMAN PUBLISHING NEW YORK

For Andi and Bruce, the best parents I know, with all my love and gratitude.

If youre reading this, then it must be true: I wrote a cookbook. My first cookbook! Hooray! But it wasnt without help (and lots of it). Ive got a few people to thank for this thing.

Thank you, thank you:

To you! For reading this book. For cooking from it. For bringing it to life.

To Alyssa (best agent), Kylie (best editor), and the Workman crew: for taking a chance on me, and turning my drawn-out ramblings into... shorter ramblings. Because of you, Im an author.

To my Dunk & Crumble readers: for stopping by every week, and creating a community that I feel so grateful to be a part of.

To Liz and Jen at Liddabit: for giving me my first job in food (and as many candy scraps as I could eat), and for cheering me on from afar.

To my army of fabulous recipe testers: Maggie, Jane, Emily and John, Jenny and Steve, Laura and Peter, Lissie, Katie, Lauren, Casey, Mom and Dad: Without you, this book wouldnt work.

To Mom, Dad, Emily, Casey, and the rest of my (amazing) family: Thanks for being my biggest supporters and best friends, always. Because of you, Im the luckiest.

To Ben: my favorite dinner date. I love you so much. Thanks for the pep talks, long walks, and big hugs. Without you, life is flavorless.

Introduction

I love a good one-pot meal. Really, who doesnt? Maximum ease, minimal cleanup, and boom: dinner. But beyond soup, chili, and stew, the one-pot meal quickly loses its legs. Its pretty much all soupy stuff, all the time. And do you really want to eat Dads famous beef chili again? (Sorry, Dad.)

I want the simplicity and ease of a one-pot meal, but I want more. I want the flexibility to get creative. I want an elegant, satisfying, complete meal. And most of all, I want amazing, intense flavor.

Enter the sheet pan. Also known as a half sheet or rimmed baking sheet, the sheet pan is one seriously underrated kitchen tool. Sheet pans combine pure ease (easy prep, easy process, easy cleanup) and interesting, sophisticated flavor. Beef stew? Try rack of lamb with herby breadcrumbs and buttered carrots. All on one pan, in the oven. No mess, no fuss. Boom! Dinner.

Sheet pan cooking means roasting, baking, and broiling, three methods that concentrate and intensify flavor. Thats just science talking, not me. If you too tune out when science starts to talk, take courageits actually pretty simple: The shallow sides of a sheet pan allow your ovens dry, even heat to fully surround that chicken breast (or stuffed eggplant or shrimp or cherry tomato) and draw out its natural sugars, producing a crisp brown exterior and an amazingly tender and juicy interior. So you get succulent chicken, syrupy fruit, crisp potatoes, and tomatoes that taste like dinnertime candy, all by tossing a few fresh things on a pan and then simply shutting your oven door. Constant stirring? Nope. Chance of hot oil jumping up and viciously splattering your wall/stovetop/new silk shirt? No, thanks. Browning meat in batches? Whos got time for that when there are guests to entertain, kids to play with, episodes of the latest cable drama to binge-watch?

This book is a roadmap for getting impressively flavorful food on the table simply and enjoyably. Does it use a few shortcuts, like frozen rice and packaged polenta? You bet it does. Do I care about taking time in the kitchen to cook entirely, 100 percent from scratch? Of course I do... sometimes. Other times its seven oclock and Ive just come home from work and care about nothing but getting a passable meal near my face quickly, instead of throwing my hands up and eating cheese and crackers for dinner.

The truth is, we dont always have time to stand over a pot of polenta for an hour to get it perfectly, authentically smooth. Thats okay. Ive developed these recipes for real people, taking care to focus on fresh and simple ingredients and the occasional shortcut (see: packaged polenta in a tube), in the hopes of making it easy to pull mouthwatering, sophisticated full meals from your oven.

Sound like a plan? Great. Lets get cooking.

Chapter 1

Why a sheet pan? Good questionone that was never addressed in Are You There God? Its Me, Margaret. Which means I had to figure it out on my own. But before we get into the meat of the matter, lets start simpler: What is a sheet pan?

On Sheet Pans, Foil & Parchment

A sheet pan, also known as a rimmed baking sheet, is a flat, rectangular metal pan with a 1-inch lip around the sides. It is often used to bake things like cookies, sheet cakes, scones, or dinner rolls, to name just a few. Sheet pans are usually made out of aluminum or stainless steel, and in a professional kitchen can be as large as 26 by 18 inches, or approximately enormous. For us home cooks, the more readily available 18-by-13-inch variety (professionally called a half sheet) does perfectly well. Note: Jelly roll pans are the same shape as sheet pans, but smaller and less sturdy; they have a tendency to warp at high heat, so be sure to use a half sheet for the recipes listed here.

You probably own at least one sheet pan already, perhaps passed down from your mom and a bit brown in the corners, or gleaming and pristine, a gift straight off your wedding registry. Should you be in need, however, rest assured that sheet pans are easy to come by. All kitchen supply stores worth their salt should have them in stock, including places like Bed Bath & Beyond, Williams-Sonoma, and Sur la Table. If youre looking to buy your pans on the cheap, check out online retailers like Overstock. I suggest owning at least two. Probably four. Once youve discovered their magic, youll find yourself reaching for sheet pans all the time. Ive got six (potential overkill), but then, I wrote a book on sheet pan cooking.

Though you can buy sheet pans that have a nonstick coating, I prefer to use ones made from regular aluminum or stainless steel, since nonstick surfaces often dont hold up to daily wear and tear, and can erode and chip off with time, potentially contaminating your food. I assume youll take your roasted chicken without a side of nonstick coating, thank you. If youre concerned about food sticking to the pan, howeverparticularly an issue with lean meats, sugary fruit, and baked goodsyou can line your pans with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Both are cheap, simple tools that help prevent food from sticking to the pan and also, incidentally, make cleanup an absolute breeze. Both can be found at your local grocery store. Im also big on olive oil cooking spray; Ill often use it in conjunction with aluminum foil, since roasted meats and vegetables sometimes like to stick to foil.

For fancier nonstickiness, you could think about investing in a Silpat, which is a nonstick silicone baking mat popular with professional bakers (available at most kitchen supply stores). Silpats certainly look cool and can make you feel like a badass baker, but unlike cheaper and easier-to-find parchment and foil, theyre not disposable and need to be cleaned after each use. And you cant cut on thema potential issue if youre making, say, a pizza. We can do without them.