Yiayia Anastasia’s Roasted Vegetables

4

Portions

40'

Ηands on

In Greece, we say that grandma food is always the best, so it was with great pleasure that we received the news about Anastasia Miari’s (link @matriarcheats) Yiayia book: a collection of traditional recipes sourced from all around Greece.
The recipe below is by Anastasia’s own grandma: “It’s a yiayia classic and a take on the traditional dish tourlou-tourlou. It’s so simple to pull together but packs a flavourful punch through the amount of garlic and olive oil Yiayia Anastasia uses. I like to make a huge tray of this so that there’s enough left for a salad the next day, which I’ll bulk up with quinoa or couscous. It’s also a great accompaniment to roast chicken, should you fancy adding a little Greek flavor to your Sunday roast.”

 

Procedure

 

Preheat the oven to 200°C (425oF/gas 7) and line a large roasting tin with baking parchment. In a bowl, mix together the oil, onions, garlic, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper until combined.

 

Slice the tops off the carrots, courgettes, and aubergines. Slice lengthways into the peppers, courgettes, and aubergines twice (once on each side) but don’t halve them – cut into them just enough to make an indentation running the length of the vegetable. Stuff these indentations with some of the olive oil and herb mixture. Transfer the peppers, courgettes, and aubergines to the prepared roasting tin.

 

Now drop the carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes into the bowl with the olive oil mixture and toss to coat. Arrange these vegetables in the roasting tin around the courgettes, aubergines, and peppers.

 

Add the water to the remaining olive oil mixture and then pour what is remaining into the roasting tin. Add an extra crack of black pepper, then transfer to the oven and roast for 1–1 1⁄2 hours. During that time, if you see that the vegetables are taking on a little too much colour, turn them over or cover them with foil to prevent them from burning. Yiayia Anastasia likes to cook this for as long as possible so that the flavours develop.

 

Serve with a blob of tzatziki, a chunk of feta, and a good wedge of sourdough.

Ingredients

150 ml (2/3 cup) olive oil
2 red onions, chopped
1/2 bulb of garlic, cloves crushed or finely chopped
20 g parsley leaves, chopped
2 heaped tbsp Greek Oregano
1 tbsp sea salt flakes
1 tsp ground black pepper
350 g carrots
300 g large courgettes
400 g aubergines
300 g green peppers
400 g potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
2 tomatoes or 2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes, sliced or quartered
1 glass of water

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