Remember the Garlic Scape Butter you made so as to keep on hand the bright green, slightly garlicky fragrance of this late spring produce? The arrival of piles of bunches of gorgeous, colorful radishes is a perfect excuse to break out some of it to liven up your vegetable platter.
I’d read about roasting radishes in several places over the years, but I’d never actually tried making them. Radish are another one of those food items that I’ve learned to like as I got older. I particularly like the combination of butter, salt and radishes, with the addition of a herb like chives or garlic to give them a bit of a zing, as in the crostini I’d added to the restaurant menu. So, I thought, let’s give cooking the radishes a chance and toss them with a bit of the butter I’d made earlier. They were wonderfully peppery with a hint of richness from the butter sauce. I just wished I’d had some crusty bread to sop up all the extra sauce left behind!
Roasted Radishes with Garlic Scape Butter
Prep time: 30 minutes or less
Serving size: 4-6 as a side dish
Ingredients:
2 bunches Radishes (any type)
1 tsp. Olive Oil
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 pinch Black Pepper, freshly ground
1 Tbsp. Garlic Scape Butter (click for recipe)
1 large pinch Sea Salt
Assembly:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Centigrade / Gas Mark 4). Cut radishes into 1/2-inch (1 cm) pieces. Place in a bowl of cold water until ready to cook so they stay crisp.
When the oven is heated up, drain the radishes and pat them dry with a towel. Toss them with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Put them into a sauté pan that can go into the oven.
Cook for 15 minutes until the radishes are tender when a knife can easily pierce them. They shouldn’t look withered or pick up lots of dark color. Place the saucepan (remember to keep an oven mitt on the handle!) on the stovetop.
Add garlic scape butter to the roasted radishes in the pan. There’s no need to turn on the heat underneath the pan, as the residual heat from cooking the radishes in the oven will melt the butter. Swirl the butter and radishes around until the butter melts and coats all the vegetables.
Pour the radishes and the garlic scape butter into a bowl and serve them while still warm. Make sure to have some crusty bread on hand to soak up all the delicious garlicky-salty-butter sauce at the end!
Buon appetito!