The crostata was a new discovery for me this past year. Now, it’s hard to imagine how I got along without this technique for so long. If you unroll a Pillsbury pie crust as a base, it’s the ultimate in simplicity. I’ve made chicken pie in the form of a crostata and apple pie, so it wasn’t much of a leap to use spiralized roasted vegetables as a filling.

I added thinly sliced red peppers and sliced mushrooms ( things that can’t be spiralized!) to the spiralized parsnips, carrots, zucchini, onions and butternut squash that I had roasted earlier in the day.

Lining a half sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper makes clean up a snap. Place an unrolled Pillsbury piecrust on the parchment. A nice touch, but not necessary, is to spread a thin layer of pesto in the center area of the piecrust, leaving a good couple of inches around the circumference. Pile the vegetables in the same center area. Fold the edges up to form a border, leaving the center open. Brush the crust with an egg wash and sprinkle the crostata with sea salt (or coarse kosher salt) and freshly ground pepper. Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes.

The Spiralizer earned its place on the countertop with this dish alone. It was really easy to prep a number of vegetables at one time and then to have them available for a number of different uses. And as far as the crostata is concerned, in addition to the fact that it was delicious, it’s no small thing that cleanup involves throwing away a piece of parchment paper!