Greek Ratatouille – Briam

Greek ratatouille is called Briam, and it’s delicious, full of hearty veggies and extra virgin olive oil goodness. Pair it with good cheese and crusty bread to dip in the sauce!

What is Briam?

Briam is a roasted vegetable dish with potatoes, zucchini, eggplants, tomatoes, onions, and lots of olive oil. It is a traditional Greek dish with a few simple ingredients that develop delicious flavors. It is very similar to the French ratatouille.

In this Greek ratatouille – Briam the veggies are the stars and truly shine. The flavors mingle together perfectly and create a phenomenal dish.

You can serve it as a side dish or be like a Greek and have it as a main dish with crusty bread to dip in the sauce. 🙂

How to make it

1. Prepare your vegetables. Slice the zucchini and eggplant and potatoes into coins, if the eggplant is too large, cut eggplant coins in half. 2. Thickly slice the garlic and halve and slice the onion.

3. Add all the veggies in a large bowl (or you can use the baking pan), season with salt and pepper, a generous pinch of oregano. Add half the oilve oil all over. Mix gently. 4. In a large baking pan, start roughly stacking the veggies upwards. Mix them together, as you stack.

5. Place tomatoes in a bowl, crush them with your hand and add them between the vegetables. Add another generous pinch of oregano and season again with salt and freshly ground pepper. 6. Add the rest of the olive oil, the broth (or water) and stuff the thyme sprigs between the veggies. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for at least two hours. Remove cover after an hour. Remove from heat, let it sit for 20 min and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

The Greek Ratatouille – Briam is the kind of food you can’t keep you hands off. Whenever I make it I find myself being in the kitchen more often, sneaking out a potato or dipping a piece of bread to that glorious sauce. I also eat it as a snack, or load it up for lunch in a bowl with cheese and a piece of bread. I don’t bother to heat it up because it tastes great at room temperature. It is a lovely dish with the aroma of Greece and endless summers.

Tips & Tricks

• This is the time of using what we have handy so don’t hesitate to substitute vegetables for the ones you have in your pantry. You can add sliced bell peppers in the mix, all colors, as well as yellow squash and mushrooms. Add okra or even cauliflower. It will be delicious.
• If you don’t have broth use one or two bouillon cubes diluted in warm water. If none is available just water will do fine.
• I love pairing Briam with some kind of cheese. The Queen of cheese in Greece is Feta so that is my go-to but I also love adding shavings of good parmesan like it is shown here.
• Greek Ratatouille – Briam can also be cooked on the stove in a large pot. Follow the same steps apart from stacking the slices, there is no need for that. Feel free to cut the veggies differently, into medium cubes for example. Cook in medium-low heat and keep an eye often in case you need to adjust liquids.
• For easiness I use good quality canned tomatoes when I make Briam. My favorites are Gustarosso San Marzano DOP. Please feel free to use your preferred canned tomatoes. If not using San Marzanno mix a tsp of sugar or honey to crushed tomatoes before mixing with the veggies.

You may also like

• This Greek Lentil Soup fakes is a hearty and comforting meal for the whole family.
• This beef ragú pasta is slow-cooked to allows flavors to develop and shine.
• This delicious chicken gyro souvlaki has juicy, tender chicken thighs, homemade Greek pita bread, a honey mustard aioli, and lots of aromatics.

Check all the pantry items a Greek kitchen wouldn’t go without.

If you’ve tried this recipe or any other on The Greek Foodie, then don’t forget to rate it and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it.

WANT TO EAT LIKE A GREEK? Subscribe to my email and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest recipes.

Briam, the Greek ratatouille

by Jenny Skrapaliori Graves

The Greek version of ratatouille is called briam and it’s delicious, full of hearty veggies and extra virgin olive oil goodness.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 mins

Cook Time 2 hrs

Course Main

Cuisine Greek

Servings 8

Calories 378 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 onion halved and sliced
• ▢ 1 large eggplant cut in 1/4 inch slices/coins, if too big cut slice in half.
• ▢ 1 large zucchini or 2 medium ones, cut in 1/4 inch slices/coins
• ▢ 5-6 potatoes medium size, sliced in 1/6 inch slices
• ▢ 14 oz tomatoes crushed, I used Custarosso
• ▢ 5-6 garlic cloves sliced thick
• ▢ 1 cup olive oil extra virgin
• ▢ fresh thyme leaves
• ▢ Greek oregano
• ▢ sea salt
• ▢ freshly ground pepper
• ▢ 1 cup broth can be chicken or veggie, if not available use water

For serving

• ▢ parmesan cheese shavings optional
• ▢ fresh thyme leaves optional
• ▢ red chili pepper flakes optional

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 F
• Prepare your vegetables. Slice the zucchini and eggplant and potatoes into coins, if the eggplant is too large, cut eggplant coins in half.
• Thickly slice the garlic and halve and slice the onion.
• Add all the veggies in a large bowl (or you can use the baking pan), season with salt and pepper, a generous pinch of oregano. Add half the oilve oil all over. Mix gently.
• In a large baking pan, start roughly stacking the veggies upwards. Mix them together, as you stack.
• Place tomatoes in a bowl, crush them with your hand and add them between the vegetables. Add another generous pinch of oregano and season again with salt and freshly ground pepper.
• Add the rest of the olive oil, the broth (or water) and stuff the thyme sprigs between the veggies.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for at least two hours. Remove cover after an hour. Remove from heat, let it sit for 20 min and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

• Best served warm or at room temperature. Make sure you have lots of bread, the sauce is irresistible 🙂
• For serving, sprinkle red chili pepper flakes all over, some thyme leaves and parmesan shavings. 
• Best served warm or at room temperature. Make sure you have lots of bread, the sauce is irresistible.
• You can add sliced bell peppers in the mix, all colors, as well as yellow squash and even mushrooms. 
• In Greece we usually use fresh crushed tomatoes but I don’t mind at all using good quality canned tomatoes. If using conventional canned tomatoes, consider mixing a tsp of sugar in the tomatoes before adding to the food. If using canned San Marzanno tomatoes dip, like Gustarosso there is no need to add any sugar. 
• You can substitute sugar for honey.

Nutrition

Calories: 378kcalCarbohydrates: 32gProtein: 4gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 132mgPotassium: 901mgFiber: 6gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 538IUVitamin C: 40mgCalcium: 37mgIron: 1mg

Keyword eggplant recipe, Greek food, greek ratatouille, greek recipe, zucchini recipe

Tried this recipe?Mention @thegreekfoodie__ or tag #thegreekfoodie__