Satisfying Veggie Bake

Ingredients

• 3 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 500 g greek-style yoghurt
• 3 eggs
• 100 g feta
• 3 potatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 basmati rice
• 3 courgettes
• 3 mixed -colour pepperses
• 3 large portobello mushroomses
• asparagus
• 30 g oregano
• 3 onions, finely diced
• olive oil
• 1 butter
• 3 corianders, roughly chopped
• 3 tsp olive
• 3 plums
• 1 filo pastry
• epic roaster
• Crusty bread, to serve
• Rocket and seed salad, to serve

Method

1. Peel and finely chop the onions and garlic. Deseed the peppers, scrub the potatoes, and cut peppers, mushrooms, courgettes and potatoes into 3cm chunks — even sizing means even cooking.
2. Heat a large casserole over medium heat with a glug of olive oil and the ground coriander. Bloom the spice in the oil for 30–60 seconds until fragrant — raw ground coriander tastes dusty, bloomed it tastes of itself. Add the onions with a good pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, until softened and translucent, about 8 minutes.
3. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant and pale gold. No further — burnt garlic turns the whole bake bitter, and you'll taste it through every layer.
4. Heat a large stainless or cast iron pan dry over high heat until it's properly hot. Char the vegetables one type at a time, in a single layer — crowd the pan and the water comes out, and you'll steam them grey instead of getting smoky edges. Transfer each batch to the casserole as it finishes.
5. Once all the vegetables are in, add the plum tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon, and pour in two tins-worth of water. The water is doing real work here — it breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of summer fruit, not heated tin. Simmer gently for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender and the sauce has thickened around them. Taste, season, taste again — adjust the salt and pepper now, not at the table.
6. While the stew simmers, whisk the eggs in a bowl and stir in the Greek yoghurt until smooth. Crumble in the feta and fold through — the feta carries its own salt, so taste before adding more.
7. Heat the oven to 200°C fan. Brush the inside of a large roasting tray with melted butter, then layer in all but one sheet of filo, leaving an overhang and brushing each sheet with butter as you go — every layer of butter is a layer of crackle.
8. Spread the cooked basmati rice evenly across the base, then spoon the vegetable stew over the top, pressing it down so there are no air pockets.
9. Pour the yoghurt, egg and feta mixture across the surface — it should settle into the gaps. Scatter with oregano, lay the asparagus spears over the top, and dust with epic roaster seasoning. Crumple the final filo sheet on top and brush with the last of the butter.
10. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the top is deeply golden and the custard has set with a gentle wobble in the centre. Rest for 5 minutes — it needs the time to firm up enough to slice.
11. Bring the bake to the table, scatter the fresh herbs across the golden filo, and serve with lemon wedges so each plate gets a squeeze of lemon over the top — the acid cuts through the rich custard and lifts the charred vegetables underneath.