Bought as a 99p KDD recently as I knew I’d use it after borrowing it from the library. I am making one recipe a week so it’s used as basis for more interesting veggie meals. Have made 4 now (including the first I made in March, repeated this week.) Favourites so far are probably the butternut squash and sweetcorn (who knew corn on the cob could taste so good roasted?) as the toppings at the end really make it. The tomato, olives and aubergine was very good. Nothing I haven’t made before on the hon, but in the oven it’s much richer. I always adapt recipes a bit; adding some ingredients and removing others. They’re good for inspiration. Absolutely wonderful and my favourite cook book for sure! Every single recipe bursts with flavours, which are so fantastically composed, I am in awe EVERY SINGLE TIME I try something new from it. Having said that, the first thing I was drawn to make was the speedily-cooked crispy olive and pine nut-crusted cod with roasted red onions and cherry tomatoes, an irresistible combination of flavours on a day when it finally felt as if summer could be round the corner. It’s almost laughably easy to prepare, slicing an onion and crushing some pine nuts in a pestle and mortar being the most complicated cooking manoeuvres required – about all I was capable of after a long day in any case. Everything went into the eponymous tin and into the oven, and I barely had time to pour a glass of wine and ring my mum before the oven timer started beeping 15 minutes later. It’s an instant winner with the magical combination of simplicity of preparation, speed of cooking and fabulous flavours and textures (the pine nut and panko topping is inspired). There are some good ideas in here, but also some really weird and off-putting flavour combinations, especially if like me you hate licorice as there's a lot of licorice flavours in this book (fennel, chicory, celeriac etc). Also radishes and cauliflower, both of which I find unpleasant. I found this author has very different tastebuds to me. I've never been alarmed by so many recipes in any other cookbook. The one with chicory, radish and orange sounds like my nightmare. And too much hot avocado! Yet, there is genuine inspiration in some of the tarts especially. I shouldn’t have worried. The recipe turned out perfectly. The butternut and bulgur wheat was tender, aubergine deliciously soft and the halloumi still delightfully squeaky. I should’ve realised really, this busy midweek evening was the perfect road test for Rukmini’s cookbook, and I’m pleased to report it passed with flying colours. It now has a place on my ‘tier one cookbook shelf’. And that’s no mean feat.

I have found that the times are a little bit short, perhaps it’s my oven or personal preference? But I’m really pleased to have bought this book so, when i buy a cookbook because the pictures are so pretty that it doesn’t even matter that there’s no delicious meat in the recipes, i’ve already resigned myself to the fact that what comes out of my oven will not look like this: With all seventy-five recipes in this book, you simply pop your ingredients in a tin and let the oven do the work. Oh, ik moet mijn best doen om niet te beginnen kwijlen bij de cover (en foto’s binnenin) van dit geweldige boek. What I thought: I am a huge fan of one pot cooking. Midweek evening meals for me are all about getting something interesting on the table with the least possible amount of time and effort. So the idea behind The Roasting Tinis like manna from heaven: imaginative food requiring minimal preparation (i.e. whilst the kids are having their supper), which can happily sit in the oven whilst I get them into bed.These recipes aren't as one-dish as I'd hope, because often they are just a side dish, and you need to add a carb or another whole thing with many of the lighter salads. After much anticipation I finally got my hands on a copy of The Roasting Tin and couldn’t wait to cook a recipe from the book. After a spout of warm weather, this bulgur wheat tray bake piqued my interest complete with summery sprigs of mint. BUT, and this is merely a good-natured gripe—this book WANTS me to fail. it WANTS me to feel the sting of inadequacy resulting from the comparison between my finished product and the book’s. it thumbs its nose at me as it dances around its spacious, well-appointed kitchen. because as lovely as this picture is, it is also a filthy liar. sure, that’s what it maybe looks like after you take it out of the oven, but THEN the recipe instructs you to stir it all up with olive oil and salt and herbs, which makes it look like THIS

Recipes we love: Marzipan, Lemon and Cardamom Loaf, Rhubarb and Vanilla Tart, Spiced Focaccia with Roasted Butternut Squash, Orange Choc Chip Bread and Butter Pudding. i’m not someone who needs the food i make to be pretty. i’m just me—flinging ingredients into chipped bowls in my tiny kitchen and hoping it all tastes good. i can appreciate the pretty food of others in books and on internet, and i understand that visually appealing food sells more cookbooks than ‘real-life’ food made by people like me without fancy cameras, food stylists, a tableware budget, or even adequate lighting. Vegan recipes we love: Warming Sweet Potato and Mushroom Polenta with Tomatoes. Crispy Gnocchi with Mushrooms, Squash and Sage. Tip the gnocchi into a roasting tin along with everything except the ricotta. Mix well – make sure you’ve used a tin big enough for everything to fit in one layer. Transfer to the oven and cook for 30 minutes, until the gnocchi is crisp and golden.

Vegetarian recipes we love: Crisp Cauliflower Steaks with Harissa and Goat’s Cheese. Oven Baked Shakshuka. Storecupboard Pasta Bake.

What I thought: If you need a cookbook that enables you to keep one eye on the dinner and one eye on the rest of your life, look no further than The Roasting Tin.Healthy ingredients, easy recipes, fuss-free cleaning, you don't need to buy extra utensils, and basically everything is suitable for batch cooking. A little gem.

Preheat the oven to 200°C fan/220°C/ gas 7. Tip the gnocchi into a large bowl, then pour a kettleful of boiling water over it and leave to stand for 2 minutes before draining well. Upon first read of the book, everything is presented really well, the photography looks awesome and the recipes seem to make sense. I’ve not seen anything in the vegan section that I thought I’d never cook – so that’s a big plus! The combinations look sensible and everything seems easy to follow (I have seen some criticism of the author in other books for poor proof reading of recipes – this is absolutely critical in cookbooks and something that happens all the time. I hate it when cookbooks have missing steps!) this is not a monthly project, but a book i will dip into periodically, sharing my successes and failures as they occur.So it’s almost unheard of for a cookbook (two by this author) radically to change the way I cook. But this and its sister book have done just that and for the better with less food waste, less energy and a wider range of foods getting eaten by Other Half. there’s no need for the sabotage, book! i was already at a disadvantage—we were never in competition, i promise you! i couldn’t even find cherry tomatoes on the vine at the one place i had time to shop for dinner-groceries! i live humbly in the shadow of your tiny tomatoes. I use a roasting tin that's roughly 20 x 30cm (8 x 12"), which comfortably manages 200-300g of couscous.