Briam is a traditional Greek tray bake dish, made up of thinly sliced vegetables, slow cooked until they’re sweet and flavoursome.
As this is Rick Stein we’re talking about – a legend in Cornwall – he’s given the Greek dish a Cornish spin, by using vegetables native to the region.
The flavour profile is simple – parsley, thyme, chilli and plenty of garlic. It’s traditionally served with feta cheese but also works well with pork chops.
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Serves: 6–8
Ingredients
- 150ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing
- 500g waxy new potatoes, peeled and cut lengthways into 5mm slices
- 400g carrots, peeled or scrubbed and sliced lengthways
- 2 large zucchinis (about 400g) sliced lengthways
- 1 large onion, peeled and sliced
- 5-6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
- 300g broccolini
- 4 large tomatoes (or 6 medium), thickly sliced
- 1 red or green finger chilli, sliced
- handful flatleaf parsley, chopped
- a few thyme sprigs, leaves stripped from the woody stalks
- 200ml passata
- 100g feta cheese, crumbled
- salt and black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 190°C/Fan 170°C. Grease a roasting tin or a shallow lidded casserole dish with oil. Spread the potato slices in a single layer and season well with salt and pepper. Layer the carrots on top, then the courgettes, then the onion and garlic, seasoning each layer with plenty of salt and pepper.
Scatter over the broccolini and cover it with tomato slices. Add the chilli, herbs and a final sprinkling of salt and pepper. Pour over the passata and the olive oil.
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Cover the roasting tin tightly with foil or put a tight-fitting lid on the dish and place in the oven for about one-and-a-quarter hours. Sprinkle over the crumbled feta and return the tin to the oven, uncovered, for a further 15–20 minutes.
Allow it to cool slightly before serving as a side dish or as a main with crusty bread or rice.
Rick Stein At Home: Recipes, Memories And Stories From A Food Lover’s Kitchen is published by BBC Books. Photography by James Murphy. Available now.
Have you eaten briam? What extra vegies would you add to this dish? Please share how the recipe works for you in the comments section below.
– With PA