Briam: Greek Roasted Vegetables in Olive Oil

I needed a little color today. So I went to the market, came home with squash and eggplant and carrots, and made briam.

Briam is the Greek answer to ratatouille — summer vegetables cut up, tossed with tomato and a great deal of olive oil, and roasted slowly until everything softens and caramelizes into each other. It is peasant food in the best sense. There is no technique to speak of. There is a roasting pan, whatever vegetables you have, and good oil.

What makes briam is the marriage of everything in the pan — the vegetables, the tomato, the herbs, the feta. Our Kores Estate oil is what brings that marriage to life — creamy, buttery, and it brings out the best in everything.

Prep time: 25 minutes  |  Cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes  |  Serves: 8 as a side, 4–6 as a main

The Only Rule Is There Are No Rules

I used what I found at the market this morning: five carrots, about fifteen small yellow and green squash, five slender Asian eggplants. Next week it might be zucchini and potatoes. That is the beauty of briam — it takes any of these vegetables, in any proportion, and it always comes out. Think of the amounts below as what filled my pan today, not a formula.

Ingredients

For the vegetables:

• 5 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• About 15 small yellow and green squash, cut into thick rounds
• 5 Asian eggplants, cut into chunks
• 1½ large red onions, roughly diced
• 6 whole garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

For the tomato and oil:

• 1 large (28 oz) can whole organic tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons organic tomato paste
• 1–2 teaspoons dried oregano — from the garden, or our Organic Greek Mountain Oregano
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• About ½ cup Kores Estate Manaki Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus more for drizzling
• Water, enough to wet the bottom of the pan

To finish:

• 6 oz feta, crumbled

Instructions

1. Cut the vegetables.

Cut everything to the size you like — I go chunky, roughly bite-and-a-half. Bigger pieces hold their shape and give you more caramelized edges; smaller pieces melt into the tomato. Both are right. Spread the carrots, squash, eggplant, onion, and garlic in a large roasting pan in a single layer. This matters — if the vegetables are piled up they steam instead of roast. Pick a pan big enough that everything fits in one layer, or use two.

2. Add the tomatoes.

Open the can of whole tomatoes and crush them over the pan with your hands, or pulse them briefly in a press chopper. Spread them over the vegetables. Squeeze in the tomato paste and scatter the parsley on top.

3. Season.

Salt generously, crack plenty of black pepper, and rub the dried oregano between your palms as you sprinkle it over everything to wake it up. Add enough water to the pan so the bottom is wet — about half a cup, depending on your pan. That's all you need; the vegetables release plenty of their own liquid as they cook.

4. Oil.

Drizzle the olive oil liberally over the whole pan. Don't measure. Toss everything gently with your hands so every piece is glossy.

5. Roast.

Bake at 400°F on convection (425°F in a conventional oven) for about 1 hour, until the vegetables are soft and the edges have started to brown and the tomato has thickened into a sauce.

6. Add the feta and finish.

Crumble the feta over the top. Raise the oven to 425°F convection (450°F conventional) and roast for another 20 minutes, until the feta has softened and browned at the edges and the oil is bubbling around the vegetables.

7. Rest and serve.

Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving — briam is better warm than hot. Serve with good bread for the oil at the bottom of the pan. It is even better the next day, at room temperature.

A Note on the Olive Oil

There are recipes where the olive oil is a finishing touch. This is not one of them. In briam, the oil and the vegetables cook together for over an hour. We use our Kores Estate Manaki EVOO — a single-estate, PDO-certified Greek extra virgin from the Asklepion region of Argolis. Creamy and buttery with a gently peppery finish, it is exactly what you want soaking into a pan of summer vegetables.

Make It Your Own

Potatoes are traditional and make it more of a meal — cut them a little smaller than the rest so they finish at the same time. I left them out today and went lower-carb: squash, eggplant, and carrots. If that's your goal too, squash, zucchini, eggplant, and green beans are all very low-carb, and carrots and parsnips are a lot lighter than potato. The dish doesn't miss them. Okra belongs here too, and roasting it whole at this heat gets rid of most of the slime that puts people off. Fresh tomatoes in high summer instead of canned. Fresh oregano or thyme if you have it. There is no wrong version.

All the Greek pantry ingredients in this recipe — the olive oil, the oregano — are available at Olive Crate.