Gnocchi broccoli tray bake with lemon and cheese

I've been mastering vegetarian tray bakes lately as a quick option for midweek meals.

They're a great way to put caramelised seasonal vegetables front and centre.

This gnocchi tray bake may forever change the way you cook these tasty little potato dumplings.

The gnocchi doesn't require pre-cooking; just open the packet and throw it onto the baking tray. To the tray of gnocchi and broccoli, I add a few vital elements to inject flavour and flair.

The lemon slices will char, adding a lovely deep citrus aroma to the ingredients. Whole fennel seeds become crunchy in the oven while also imparting an unexpected mild aniseed flavour.

When the tray emerges from the oven, finish it off with a generous amount of grated pecorino, along with several turns of black pepper and a final squeeze of lemon juice.

How to build your own vegetarian tray bake:

• Hearty vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, baby carrots, sweet potato and brussels sprouts are excellent for tray bakes. They cook quickly and become burnished and sweet. Throw in a legume to add texture — chickpeas, cannellini beans or lentils become crispy and creamy in the oven.
• Spices are important as their warmth will permeate everything on your tray. Sprinkle some ground cumin, coriander, turmeric or harissa over everything to add depth and character. In this tray bake I've used fennel seeds.
• When the vegetable tray comes out of the oven, it just needs a simple sauce or topping to bring it all together. Try generous blobs of pesto, lashings of tahini, drops of chilli oil or, as I have done here with this recipe, a generous grating of sharp cheese.
• Use ingredients that take roughly the same amount of time to cook. This will make the whole cooking process easier, meaning you can truly walk away and do something else while the food cooks.

Every month, we publish a new recipe from our New Australian Classics series. Hetty McKinnon is a food writer and cookbook author with a passion for vegetables. She’s the author of three cookbooks, Community, Neighbourhood, and Family. Originally from Sydney, Hetty is currently living with her family in Brooklyn, New York.