If the vegetables you are preparing can cook in 10 minutes or so—thin asparagus or thinly sliced zucchini, for example—there is no need to precook them. Boil vegetables that take longer—sliced carrots or parsnips—in salted water until al dente, then proceed.

　　

Ingredients

2 cups bread crumbs

　　1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

　　4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

　　2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

　　Pinch salt

　　

Step 1

Mix the bread crumbs, grated cheese, olive oil, parsley, and salt together in a small bowl until the crumbs are evenly moistened with the oil. Arrange the vegetables in an even layer in a baking dish, sprinkle them with enough crumbs to make an even but not thick coating, and bake in a 400° F oven until the bread crumbs are browned and crispy and the vegetables are heated through, about 12 minutes.

　　

note

Step 2

To top baked vegetables, like asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, and parsnips

　　From Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Copyright © 2001 by A La Carte Communications and Tutti a Tavola, LLC. Published by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.Buy the full book from Amazon.