The basic idea
A teaspoon of Marmite, a tablespoon of oil, a splash of just-boiled water to thin it. Whisk together until it is loose enough to pour. That is the base glaze. It will coat about a roasting tray’s worth of vegetables for four people.
Add the glaze at the end, not the start. Marmite will scorch and turn bitter if you put it in the oven for an hour. Roast the vegetables first, glaze them when they are nearly done.
Variations worth bothering with
A teaspoon of honey turns the glaze sweet-salty, which is what parsnips were invented for. A teaspoon of sweet chilli sauce gives it a slow back-of-the-throat heat. A clove of grated garlic and a few rosemary needles take it in a Sunday-roast direction. Pick one and commit. All three at once is too much.
What to put it on
Parsnips. Roast potatoes (the glaze goes on after the potatoes are crisp, so it sticks rather than steams). Carrots. Sweet potato. Whole shallots. A tray of mixed root vegetables for a midweek dinner. Cauliflower works, but cauliflower is sturdy and needs the glaze applied a bit earlier and a heavier hand to get past the brassica flavour.
It is also surprisingly good on whole roasted garlic bulbs, which then go onto bread or into mash.
Method
- Heat the oven to 200°C, or 220°C if you want crisper edges.
- Cut the vegetables to roughly even pieces, toss with oil, salt and pepper, and roast for thirty to forty minutes until they are nearly done and starting to colour.
- Mix one teaspoon of Marmite, one tablespoon of olive oil, and one tablespoon of hot water in a small bowl. Whisk with a fork until smooth. Add honey or chilli if you want it.
- Tip the roasting tray, pour the glaze over the vegetables, toss to coat.
- Back in the oven for ten more minutes. Watch it. The glaze will go from glossy and right to burnt and wrong in about two minutes if you wander off.
- Serve straight away. Sprinkle with a few toasted seeds or chopped parsley if you remembered to buy any.
That is the whole job.
