One tray, four people, no washing up worth mentioning.

• Serves 4
• Hands-on 15 min
• Oven 40 min
• The skill Space

The secret of a good tray bake isn’t the oven or the recipe. It’s space. Crowd the tray and everything steams. Give it room and everything browns.

You’ll need

• Butternut squash 1 large
• Good sausages 8
• Red onions 3
• Fresh sage a handful
• Olive oil 3 tbsp
• Salt, a lemon to taste

No sausages? Chickpeas, drained and dried. Same rules.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220 °C with the empty tray inside. A hot tray is half the trick.
2. Cut the squash into thick wedges and the onions into quarters. Toss them with oil and salt in a bowl.
3. Spread everything on the hot tray with gaps between the pieces. If it doesn’t fit, use two trays.
4. Roast 25 minutes without touching it. Add the sausages and sage, turn the vegetables once, then 15 more minutes.
5. Squeeze over the lemon, taste, and salt again if it needs it.

This is the whole lesson. Really. N.