Ricardo Larrivee - Sheet Pan Everything: Deliciously Simple One-Pan Recipes

If youre holding this book in your hands right now, I guarantee that if you have a sheet pan, youll use it now, more than ever. You probably bought a sheet pan for the first time to bake cookies, make frozen French fries or roast vegetables. In this book, I want to take it a step further, going beyond cooking a single ingredient and using the sheet pan to its full capacity: making a complete meal. In the development of this book, my kitchen team and I tried to cook everything on a sheet pan, with the exception of most pastas, rice and some grains (trust us, they just dont work). Cooking on a sheet pan is simple, it concentrates flavors, it requires little handling and it has virtually no messy cleanup. In contrast to the slow cooker, sheet pan meals have the advantage of speed.

The metal of the pan can withstand high temperatures and allows for broiling, so you can finish your dish under the broiler for a few minutes for even more caramelization. But the best part about cooking with a sheet pan? It combines what we love to celebrate in the kitchen: simplicity and togetherness. When you place the pan in the center of the table, everyone instantly relaxes, gathers around and talks about their day. And its also a serious time-saver, as it takes only a few minutes to toss together the ingredients for a full and balanced mealgiving you more time to enjoy with your loved ones. When we started creating these recipes, our world was a totally different place. We were always crowded around various sheet pan dishes together in the test kitchen, offering each other suggestions and pushing ourselves further to get the recipes just right.

When we finished them, we were isolated from one another, working from our respective homes. But eating these recipes again, with our families during confinement, we realized they were exactly what we needed. With this book, my wish is to help everyone have soothing, satisfying and comforting moments around the table. Bon apptit!

DIMENSIONS

A standard sheet pan usually measures 18 13 inches (46 33 cm). There are also small sheet pans, often referred to as quarter sheet pans in professional kitchens, that measure 13 9 inches (33 23 cm).

COOKIE SHEET VS.

COOKIE SHEET VS.

SHEET PAN

The difference between a cookie sheet (or pastry sheet) and a sheet pan is the absence of raised sides on a cookie sheet. Some cookie sheets do have one raised side, which helps to easily slide food off the sheet. I only use sheet pans with raised sides because they hold in cooking juices and are more durable and less likely to warp over time.

PALE VS. DARK SHEET PAN

Some sheet pans are dark while others are pale. A dark sheet will absorb more of the ovens radiant heat, which can then overly brown and caramelize the foods cooked on it.

A pale sheet reflects heat and encourages more even cooking. For example, if you bake cookies on a dark sheet pan, they will brown much more quickly and could even burn! You can reduce the cooking time by a few minutes in this case. A non-stick sheet pan is easy to maintain because foods will not stick to it as they cook. An aluminum sheet pan is light and versatile but does not age well over time. Also, the aluminum may react with acidic foods, damaging the sheet. An enameled cast-iron sheet pan is usually colored and has a very thick bottom. An enameled cast-iron sheet pan is usually colored and has a very thick bottom.

If using one, you will likely have to run a few tests first and possibly increase the cooking time of your recipes.

All of the recipes in this book were tested with RICARDO brand non-stick sheet pans. These fall under the category of pale sheet pans. Unless otherwise indicated in the recipe, we used a standard 18 13-inch (46 33 cm) sheet pan.