Greek Ratatouille

The finished dish served up with a sprinkling of fresh parsley and crumbled feta cheese.

My mother didn’t have a name for this dish when she served it to us as a weekday dinner during our immigrant years in Australia. I made it often, but it was a nameless dish--always with great flavor, but orphaned of name. Consequently, years later in the United States, when one of my father’s sisters, my theia Rina, was visiting from Greece and she called this dish Tourloutourlou, I had no idea what she was cooking. Funny, however, that she always referred to it as Tourloutourlou and her sister, my Aunt Polly, has always called it Briam. You will hear it called by both names, depending on the family tradition. In my family, this has always been cooked in a pot on the stove, just like traditional Ratatouille, using onion, garlic, olive oil, lots of parsley and whatever summer vegetables are available to you, either from your garden, the local farmers market or the bountiful gardens of neighbors and friends. 

Use a vibrant mix of colors for an eye-pleasing dish

Today, this dish is almost always cooked in the oven, all vegetables carefully sliced and positioned or layered in a roasting dish then covered in a rich tomato sauce.

Stir once during oven-roasting to get the browned edges on all of the veggies.

My simplified version takes the worry out of keeping an eye on the pot. You toss the vegetables gently only once, and the rest of the cooking time you can do whatever you wish. Both stovetop and oven-roasted versions are simple enough, but the oven gives you greater freedom with how to use your time.

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

For a video of me teaching you how to say Briam and Tourloutourlou, click here.

Ingredients

1 extra large zucchini cut into large cubes or 2 “batons

1 large yellow squash cut into large cubes or 2” batons

1 large eggplant (or two Japanese) cut into large cubes

2 cups snapped green beans cut into 2” pieces

1 cup trimmed okra

1 cup of new potatoes or any potatoes (that you have on hand) cut into large cubes

1 red pepper ribbed, seeded and cut into 1” squares (orange, yellow or green can be used also)

1 bunch Italian parsley, coarsely chopped

1 large sweet yellow onion like Vidalia (white can be substituted)

Half of one head of garlic, peeled and cloves sliced

1 cup olive oil

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with juice

1 (14 oz) can crushed tomatoes

4 cups of water

salt and pepper

Method

1.      Prep all of the vegetables and open both cans.

2.      In a large roasting pan with high sides, toss the vegetables with the tomatoes, oil, water, parsley, garlic and onion. Season with salt and pepper.

3.      Place on the middle rack of a preheated 450F oven.

4.      Roast for 45 minutes; toss gently to bring veggies from the bottom to the top.

5.      Roast for one hour. Test to make sure that the veggies have softened and that the liquids have reduced and thickened slightly. If they need a little longer, return to the oven for 15 minutes longer and check again. If the sauce has thickened too much and seems too oily, stir in another cup of water and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.

6.      In the Greek heritage kitchen, this is a complete meal and requires no meat accompaniment. It is served with crusty bread and feta cheese on the side.

7.      Leftovers can be frozen and served as a side dish to roasted chicken, pork or fish.

The vegetable combination used in this recipe can be amended to include fewer of one and more of another, according to what is in season and available to you. The seasonings (garlic, olive oil, parsley, tomato, onion) and eggplant are the essentials of this dish. I love to use an excess of okra and often finish the dish with frozen peas, which I stir into the pan in the last 10-15 minutes of cooking.

This weekend I cooked from the freezer: Previously cooked Greek ratatouille that I reheated and roasted pork tenderloin. Such an easy way to cook and so affordable. All of the veggies came from friends and neighbors. All that I invested in this dinner were the seasonings, the pork loin and my time. 

By federal law, no hormones or steroids used with pork.