ROASTED CARROTS

By LaLaCooks

Cooks Illustrated, Published November 1, 2010.

Roasting carrots draws out their natural sugars and intensifies their flavor—if you can prevent them from shriveling up like used matches.

The Problem
Most of the time, roasted carrots come out dry, shriveled, and jerkylike.

The Goal
We wanted tender, creamy, and deeply sweet carrots that could earn a place on our dinner table—and a simple roasting technique to get them there.

The Solution
First, we experimented with shapes. Cutting the carrots into identical-size batons gave us the most even cooking and the best browning.

Carrots contain more pectin than any other vegetable, so we decided to try a trick we’d developed to keep pectin-filled apples from turning mushy when baked in pie. For this technique, we precooked the apples long enough for the pectin to convert to a heat-stable form that would protect their interiors against high temperatures. Our research told us that by precooking the carrots, we could trigger the same reaction, but with a different outcome: Stronger cell walls would help keep moisture in, minimizing withering.

Instead of dirtying another pan by precooking the carrots on the stovetop, we decided to precook them right on the baking sheet. We got the oven good and hot, lined the pan with foil (or parchment), buttered and seasoned the carrots, tightly covered the baking sheet with aluminum foil, and cooked them until they resisted slightly when poked with a fork. We then slid the uncovered baking sheet back into the oven until the moisture had burned off and the carrots took on nut-brown caramelized streaks. At last, these carrots were tender-firm and distinctly sweet, with minimal withering.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds carrots , peeled, halved crosswise, and cut lengthwise if necessary to create even pieces (see illustrations in Cutting Carrots for Roasting)
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
• Table salt and ground black pepper

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from cooksillustrated.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. In large bowl, combine carrots with butter, teaspoon salt, and teaspoon pepper; toss to coat. Transfer carrots to foil- or parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and spread in single layer.

2. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil and cook for 15 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook, stirring twice, until carrots are well browned and tender, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to serving platter, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.