This baked vegetables in tomato sauce with olive oil, Firin Sebze, is a delicious, easy and healthy vegetarian course that we turn to often. Beauty of this dish is that you can use whatever vegetables you have in hand; zucchini (courgettes), peppers, onions, peas, carrots, beetroots, aubergines, beans, potatoes especially work well. In Turkish cuisine, we use tomato based sauces a lot in our casseroles, stews and baked dishes; you can use juicy, ripe tomatoes when they are in season. If you can’t get hold of ripe tomatoes, a good quality canned chopped tomatoes also work very well.
For a more substantial vegetarian course, you can add cooked chickpeas to the vegetable mixture here and bake all together. It is a delicious and gluten-free vegetarian course that complements any grills and pasta beautifully; you can also serve this vegetable bake as part of a mezze spread.
You can prepare this dish ahead of time and keep in the fridge or freezer. If left in fridge, reheat at the preheated oven at 200 C / 400 F for 15 – 20 minutes. If kept in freezer, reheat at the same temperature for about 30 minutes.
I hope this delicious baked vegetables with olive oil inspires for easy, healthy, delicious home cooked meals for you all.
I love wholesome, delicious Turkish cuisine; it is based on seasonal produce and offers a lot of options for vegetarian and vegan diets too. Over 90 authentic Turkish recipes are included at my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland. Signed copies are now 25 % off via GBPublishing at this link, and delivered worldwide including the US.
Afiyet Olsun,
Ozlem
- 3 medium zucchini (courgettes), quartered and sliced (about ½ cm, 0.20”)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- Red, green and yellow bell peppers (or pointy peppers), deseeded and sliced in small chunks
- 4 ripe tomatoes cut in small chunks or 1 can of 400 gr/14 oz. canned chopped tomatoes
- 10 ml/ 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 8 fl oz. / 1 cup water
- 10 ml / 2 tsp. oregano
- Sea salt and ground black pepper to your taste
- Pre-heat oven to 200 C / 400 F
- Combine sliced zucchini (courgettes), peppers, onions and garlic on a baking tray.
- Pour in the olive oil and mix with the vegetables well.
- Stir in the chopped tomatoes or canned chopped tomatoes, combine well.
- Pour in the water.
- Stir in the oregano and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Combine well.
- Bake in the preheated oven (200 C/ 400 F), uncovered for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, give the vegetables a good mix and bake for a further 20 minutes, until they start to chargrill at edges.
- Serve hot as part of a mezze spread or as a side to pasta and grills.