Last Updated on April 12, 2024
This easy but delicious recipe for Mediterranean roasted vegetables is a mainstay for my summer and autumn cooking. For a start, it takes me back to Gulet sailing on the Mediterranean, island hopping and eating either in local cafes and bars or feasting on the food prepared for us by our Turkish cook. I learnt from her that it was a dish with infinite variations, depending on your available vegetables.
Mediterranean roasted vegetables are a good way to use up leftover veg – you can include potatoes, squash and more, in addition to the basic vegetables which I believe epitomise the Mediterranean. Courgettes (zucchini), aubergine (eggplant), tomatoes and onion. You’ll also need a lot of olive oil, garlic, fresh herbs and, ideally, my favourite, za’atar. You can spice things up with a few chilli flakes or a sprinkling of paprika. I don’t add lemon juice or balsamic if I have za’atar or sumac, but you can if you prefer a slightly more acidic sauce.
Once you’ve cleaned your vegetables, trim them and chop them into even-sized chunks about 2cm square. I peeled a red onion cut it into segments and cut my courgettes into rounds. This time I didn’t have any regular green peppers, but I had a handful of padron peppers. So, they went in with the stalks trimmed a bit. Cherry tomatoes were left whole while my regular tomatoes were cut into segments. The whole lot went into a big bowl with the herbs (oregano, rosemary and thyme) and peeled cloves of garlic.
Then, mix up the olive oil with seasoning (salt, pepper and a couple of teaspoons of za’atar) and pour it over your vegetables. I use my hands to mix everything well. Spread everything out on baking trays so that you have a single layer of vegetables spaced out a little bit. That’s important because you want the mixture to roast rather than stew.
Put the trays in the oven at 165C (fan) or 175C (regular) and cook for 40 minutes. You’ll need to turn everything around a couple of times during the cooking process.
Once the vegetables are soft, cooked through and just a little caramelised, take them out of the oven and remove the big sprigs of herbs. If you want to add lemon juice or balsamic, now is a good time to do so, stirring a little through and tasting as you do. You can serve these roasted Mediterranean vegetables hot or let them cool down to room temperature.
I think these Mediterranean roasted vegetables are excellent served warm with grilled meats and fish or cold with some feta and basil stirred through. You can also add them to cooked pasta and top with cheese for a quick and easy supper. They make a beautiful and colourful addition to a buffet platter and they keep well in the fridge for about a week. I wouldn’t freeze them as part of the joy of this dish is the fresh taste of summer vegetables.
Here’s a printable recipe for you together with approximate nutritional values for Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables
Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables
Ingredients
- 80 millilitres olive oil
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 large green pepper (or a handful of padron peppers)
- 1 medium aubergine
- 2 medium courgettes
- 2 teaspoons za'atar
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 handful fresh herbs (or 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs) rosemary, thyme, oregano or a mixture
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Set the oven to 165C (fan) or 175C (regular)
- Trim your vegetables and cut into bite-sized chunks about 2cm square
- Put all the chunks into a large bowl
- Peel the garlic and add to the vegetables
- Mix together the olive oil, za'atar, salt and pepper together with the fresh herbs still on their stalks
- Pour the seasoned oil over the vegetables and mix well (I use my hands for this)
- Spread the vegetables out on baking trays one layer thick. Make sure there's space between the vegetables.
- Put in the oven and cook for around 40 minutes, turning everything once or twice half till the vegetables are soft and turning golden
- Once the vegetables are cooked, take out of the oven, remove the herbs and put into a serving dish. You can garnish with more herbs at this stage if you like
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe for later? Here’s a useful pin for Mediterranean roasted vegetables with za’atar
Looking for something different? How about our recipe for tomato and chilli sauce for pasta
An easy summer staple!
Sounds good! Going to prepare this in the coming weeks. Since I have those herbs at home, so it’s perfect.
Fresh herbs and dry spices add so much flavor to roasted veggies! Yours look incredible.
Za’atar is really a special ingredient for roasted Mediterranean vegetables