Ina Garten's Genius Tip For Flavor-Packed Roasted Vegetables

One of the best-kept secrets of raising your cooking to the next level is making pan sauces, otherwise known as deglazing. You don't always have to make a rich sauce from the browned bits of veggies or meat left in your pans after roasting (that's called fond, by the way, and this is how you deglaze a pan). You can use water to scrape it all together and then add it to pasta or any dish, and that's precisely what Ina Garten did in her genius tip to add rich flavor to her orzo with roasted vegetables recipe. 

Basically, Garten roasts her veggies on a large baking sheet (eggplant, bell peppers, onion, garlic with olive oil, salt, and pepper). After they are done cooking and when it's time to assemble the entire dish, she makes sure to scrape the roasting pan of all the cooked veggie bits, fond, oil, salt, and pepper into the pasta dish itself. In her recipe, she adds more oil, lemon, and finishing ingredients to her pasta. By simply using up all the fond and browned bits from any cook, you're not only reducing food waste but also taking advantage of some great flavors. At least where it's applicable, which is almost any dish. 

When you're searing meat and the Maillard reaction is creating magical flavors in your pan, you shouldn't let your fond go to waste. And for your information, not every pan sauce needs to use white or red wine, though using wine for your Thanksgiving gravy is truly delicious. Keep in mind that you can also deglaze your pan with chicken, vegetable, or beef stock. You can even use apple cider vinegar, citrus juices like orange juice, or even just water. You can get creative for your flavor profile needs. 

Remember that you don't want to use a nonstick pan for deglazing, since nonstick pans won't create the seared or burnt crust that brings out flavor. When you deglaze, you're literally scraping up the little bits of food stuck to the pan, and non-stick pans are designed to... not stick. You also don't want to scrape the nonstick coating off your pan, as those are known to have toxic chemicals in them. So, when you deglaze your pan's fond, use a cast-iron pan or other non-toxic option. The deglazing technique is too tasty and too easy not to embrace.