Roasted Vegetable Stew
This simple vegetable-packed stew is warm, comforting, and easy to put together, perfect for a chilly autumnal evening dinner.
From the book
Meliz’s Kitchen: Simple Turkish-Cypriot comfort food and fresh family feasts
Comforting and easy go-to meals for busy family life
From breakfasts and traditional stove-top dishes to barbecue recipes and crowd-pleasing desserts
A celebration of the melting-pot of delicious spices and fresh flavours that make a Turkish-Cypriot kitchen
Introduction
Türlü literally translates as ‘all kinds of’, or ‘all sorts’ and it refers to the assortment of vegetables that are thrown together in this dish. The vegetables are roasted, like an oven-baked ratatouille, with a colourful combination of herbs and sweet, warm spices. It’s Turkish in origin and is one of those dishes that can be eaten hot, warm or cold (known as a zeytinyağlı – ‘with olive oil’ – dish in Turkish cuisine). It is simply delicious when served with bread and some thick set natural yogurt or my Cacık.
Ingredients
| 1 large | aubergine |
| 2 | courgettes |
| 1 tsp | fine sea salt |
| 2 large | onions |
| 2 large (200g/7oz) | sweet red peppers (kapya biber) or romano peppers |
| 4 large (150g/5½oz) | charleston or 2 green bell peppers |
| 4 large (500g/1lb 2oz) | ripe plum tomatoes |
| 4 large | garlic cloves, peeled and bashed |
| 50ml (2fl oz) | olive oil |
| ¼ tsp | ground cloves |
| ½ tsp | ground coriander |
| ½ tsp | paprika |
| 1 tsp | dried oregano |
| ¾ tsp | sea salt flakes |
| ¾ tsp | cracked black pepper |
| 1 | vegetable stock cube |
| 2 tbsp | tomato purée |
| 1 tbsp | Turkish sweet red pepper (tatlı biber salçası) |
| 600ml (20fl oz) | boiling water |
| 1 tbsp | fresh lemon juice |
| 1 tbsp | plain flour |
| ½ | cinnamon stick |
| 1 large | bay leaf |
| 1-2 tbsp | extra virgin olive oil |
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6.
Cut the aubergine in 3–4-cm (1–1.-inch) chunks. Cut the courgettes into chunks of a similar size. Lay both vegetables out flat on baking sheets or large plates. Sprinkle their flesh evenly with fine sea salt and leave them for around 15 minutes to release their juices. Pat the vegetables dry with some kitchen paper and add them to a large, deep roasting tray.
Peel and cut the onions into chunks roughly the same size as the aubergine and courgette. Cut up the peppers and tomatoes, ensuring they are similar in size to the other vegetables. Add to the large, deep roasting tray containing the aubergines and courgettes. Add the garlic.
In a bowl, mix together the olive oil, cloves, coriander, paprika, dried oregano, half of the sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper, then stir this spiced oil into all of the veggies, using clean hands to toss everything together. Ensure that all of the vegetables are coated in the oily spices and redistribute them as flat as possible.
Place the roasting tray into the oven and bake for 30 minutes (stirring gently halfway through) while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
Dissolve the stock cube, tomato pur.e and sweet red pepper paste in the boiling water in a heatproof jug and leave to one side.
After 30 minutes, remove the roasting tray from the oven, gently stir the vegetables, then drizzle over the lemon juice, sprinkle over the flour, the remaining sea salt flakes and cracked black pepper. Nestle the cinnamon stick and bay leaf into the mixture, and carefully pour over the stock. Increase the oven temperature to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas mark 7 and return the tin to the bottom shelf of the oven for a further 45–50 minutes, gently stirring halfway through the cooking time. Remove the tray from the oven and let the vegetables cool until warm. Drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil just before serving.
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