Extreme Vegetable Goodness

Beyond good. Prepping the vegetables takes a while but then it's virtually hands-free with spectacular results. You'll be glad you made this. This will serve 8 as a side-dish, 4 or 5 as a main course.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 45 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 3  cups  butternut squash, cubed (1 small)
• 3  cups sweet potatoes, cubed (1 very large)
• 3  cups  baby plum tomatoes or 3  cups cherry tomatoes
• 5  variously-coloured sweet peppers, cubed
• 3  Japanese eggplants, cubed
• 1  fennel bulb and greens, quartered and sliced
• 1  very large red onion, large dice
• 1⁄2 cup extra virgin olive oil
•  salt, pepper
• 1  tablespoon dried oregano
• 3⁄4 lb  grated  pecorino cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Toss all the vegetables in a very large pan. Drizzle with the evoo, and add salt and pepper to taste, and oregano. With very clean hands, give everything a toss to distribute and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Sprinkle with grated pecorino and bake a further 20 minutes - your vegetables with be very soft and tender, not crisp at all. This is a 'comfort' recipe, so if you must have crisp vegetables, best do them another way. ;-)
3. Serve warm, or close to room temperature. The extreme veggie goodness has better-developed flavours that way. Spoon the juices in the pan over each serving - they are divine.