Roasted Rosemary Balsamic Tzimmes – Root vegetables with walnuts glazed in molasses and roasted to perfection, drizzled in a rich balsamic reduction sauce.
As I was thinking about my Rosh Hashanah menu this year, I started dreaming of a roasted tzimmes recipe. What’s a tzimmes, you might ask? The word comes from a Yiddish expression that means “make a fuss” over something. Most tzimmes recipes involve a lot of peeling and chopping. This one is no different, but it’s absolutely worth the fuss.
Most tzimmes recipes are usually altogether too sweet for me. Of course, the Rosh Hashanah holiday is all about sweet foods, but tzimmes can sometimes come across as cloying. For that reason I wanted a tzimmes with depth, and I knew I wanted balsamic in the mix. Molasses was an inspired addition that I stumbled on over at Leite’s Culinaria. Combined with fragrant fresh rosemary, toasted walnuts, and a balsamic reduction, a beautiful dish was born. Seriously, it’s beautiful. Dramatic. Deep. This is tzimmes, all grown up.
Entertaining a crowd? I recommend you make a few batches of this Roasted Rosemary Balsamic Tzimmes, it’s absolutely addicting. Even better, you can roast the vegetables and make the balsamic reduction ahead, then reheat both just before serving. Save that delectable drizzle of balsamic syrup for the moment you serve.
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Roasted Rosemary Balsamic Tzimmes
Equipment
- baking sheet
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 pound yams, peeled and sliced into 1 1/2 inch pieces (1 large or 2 medium yams - orange sweet potatoes)
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced into 1 1/2 inch pieces (about 5 medium carrots - I like using multicolored heirloom carrots)
- 1 pound parsnips, peeled and sliced into 1 1/2 inch pieces (about 2 large parsnips)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons molasses (or substitute maple syrup)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, plus more for garnish if desired
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
NOTES
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Combine the chopped root vegetables in a mixing bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the olive oil and molasses. Pour over the root vegetables, sprinkle on the kosher salt, and stir to coat all of the vegetables evenly with the molasses, oil and salt.
- Spread vegetables out evenly on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the rosemary sprigs across the top of the vegetables, evenly spread out. Place vegetables in the oven. Roast for 25 minutes undisturbed.
- In a small saucepan, bring the balsamic vinegar to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5-8 minutes until the liquid has reduced by half and the balsamic thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and pour into a cool heat-safe container.
- The syrup will continue to thicken as it cools.
- After 25 minutes of roasting, remove the tray from the oven. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts onto the tray with the vegetables, then stir the vegetables, moving the vegetables on the outside of the sheet to the center, and vice versa. While doing so the walnuts will be slightly coated with the molasses mixture. Return to the oven and continue to roast for 10-25 minutes longer, until the largest pieces of vegetables are tender.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven and discard the roasted rosemary sprigs. Drizzle the roasted vegetables with the balsamic reduction.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
tried this recipe?
Let us know in the comments!
If I’m making this in advance, do I drizzle the balsamic reduction just before serving or after I take the roasted veggies out of the oven?
I would drizzle just before serving.
Was really good. How long does this keep in the fridge?
I would say 3 days or so. Glad you enjoyed it!
Hey Tori,
Can I use store bought balsamic glaze, rather than making it??
I have never been able to make my own glaze without burning a pot!!
Thank you!
reva
You can, but most of the ones I’ve tried are really overly sweet and not very tasty… if you have one you like, go for it! Otherwise, this will also work without the glaze.
Hi,
Thanks for the great recipes. What is a other nut I can use in place of walnuts?
Thanks
Hi Alka, chopped pecans would also work nicely here.
Hi there- can you use baby carrots for this recipe? Thank you Tori!
Yes!
I make roasted Tzimmes combining three recipes I found, I use lots of different colored root veggies and dried fruit and after serving hot leftovers make a great cold dish. I will try this for the new years.
“Don’t tzimmes over the Tzimmes!”, an old expression for new wive’s making for the first time.
Hi Tori, can your tsimmis recipe be frozen.
Hi Cheryl, you can freeze the roasted vegetables without the glaze, but I recommend making the balsamic fresh and drizzling just before serving.
I decided to make this for a neighbor’s potluck holiday party this year and for the first time I didn’t bring home any leftovers! The flavor is really wonderful. I would like to try this with other root vegetables.
Hi Tori! I love your recipe for Tzimmes! For those who want to know how to pronounce “tzimmes…” it’s like TSIH-miss, but that’s hard to translate from Yiddish.
Rachel
Hello Tori
Thank you for this recipe
I’m a vegetarian and keep kosher so your site is very helpful to me. Thank you for blogging so much, I have bookmarked your page.
best, Kelly