Greek Baked Okra and Tomato Recipe
Baked Okra and Tomato… another Antigoni recipe!!! If you are part of the “KO’s Ntomatofai Cult following” then you know how good baked tomato purée is when paired with sweet baked peppers. Well then, this is the next recipe you need to add to your baked tomato purée repertoire! And it is soooo dang good!!!
One big MUST though for this dish – you MUST be VERY GENTLE when tossing and turning the okra – otherwise they will split and release their seeds. it won’t affect the flavour of the dish, but it will affect the aesthetics and you know the aesthetics count!
This dish is best prepared a day ahead, as the tomato mellows and sweetens overnight and all the flavours harmonise and balance. Gently reheat this dish the following day, drizzle with some more EVOO and serve with risoni-rice and some thick Greek yoghurt for a full meal, or at room temperature with some crusty bread and an ouzo for a light meal or meze!
Ingredients
- 2 kg ripe tomatoes, diced and blitzed
- 2 tsp salt
- EVOO
- 1 kg okra
- 2 brown onions, thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- EVOO
- And more EVOO!!!
Method
- Preparing the tomato
- Place tomato puree in a large pan
- Addsalt and stir through
- Drizzlegenerously with EVOO
- Bake in an oven pre-heated to 200ºC for approximately one hour; until all of the water has baked out of the tomato
- Set aside
- Preparing the okra
- Using a paring knife, make an angled incision into the okra just below the visible line that separates the stalk from the fruit - continue cutting around the okra to form a conical pyramid at the top of the okra (see Okra 101 video for prep guide)
- Wash okra – they will release slime – do not fret
- Place okra in a very large pan
- Add the brown onions and massage to separate the onion rounds
- Add salt, pepper and a generous drizzle of EVOO
- Toss well
- Bake in an oven pre-heated to 200ºC for approximately20 minutes, before adding garlic and stirring in very gently
- Bake for a further 20 minutes till onions and okra have browned a little
- Gently transfer the okra/onions to the pan with the cooked tomato and gently stir together
- Shake the pan a little to spread out its contents
- Generously drizzle with EVOO
- Bake for a further 15-20 minutes till onions and okra brown a little more
- Serving the okra & tomato
- Serve the okra & tomato dish with crusty bread or risoni-rice
- If you can, prepare this dish a day ahead, as the tomato mellows and sweetens overnight – then gently reheat or serve at room temperature the following day Kali Orexi!