Vegan Confit Byaldi
A stunning, elegant dish made famous around the world — thin, colourful slices of eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and fresh tomato arranged in a beautiful overlapping pattern, slowly baked in a rich, herby tomato and garlic sauce until tender and fragrant. This fully vegan version keeps all the vibrant colours, delicate flavours, and rustic charm of the original, with every vegetable slice meltingly soft and infused with savoury sweetness. As delicious as it is beautiful to behold!
Shared by jessy
Time
75 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
medium
🛒 Ingredients
- #For the Base Sauce;
- 800 g ripe tomatoes (fresh or canned crushed tomatoes)
- 2 tbsp olive oil.. 3–4 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 1 small onion, very finely diced.. 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried thyme or herbes de Provence.. ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp maple syrup or sugar (to balance acidity, optional)
- Salt and black pepper to taste.. 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
- #For the Layered Vegetables;
- 1 medium eggplant (aubergine) — approx. 300–350 g
- 1 medium zucchini (courgette) — approx. 250–300 g
- 1 medium bell pepper (red or yellow)
- 2 medium firm tomatoes.. 1–2 tbsp olive oil for drizzling
- Extra dried herbs, salt, and pepper for sprinkling
👩🍳 Instructions
- 1
Begin by making the rich tomato base sauce: heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium‑low heat, add the finely diced onion and cook gently for 5–7 minutes until soft and translucent. Stir in the minced garlic and tomato paste, cooking for another minute until fragrant. Add the crushed or chopped tomatoes, herbs, a pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper, and the optional sweetener to balance the acidity. Simmer gently for 15–20 minutes until thickened and rich, then spread this sauce evenly across the bottom of a round or oval baking dish.
- 2
While the sauce simmers, prepare all the vegetables: slice the eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, and tomatoes into uniformly thin rounds about 3–4 mm thick — keeping them roughly the same size will make the arrangement beautiful and even. Arrange the vegetable slices in an overlapping, spiral pattern standing upright across the sauce, alternating colours of eggplant, zucchini, pepper, and tomato so they create a vibrant, rainbow‑like effect that covers the entire dish. Tuck any remaining smaller slices in the centre to fill any gaps.
- 3
Once arranged, drizzle the vegetables generously with olive oil, then sprinkle lightly with salt, black pepper, and extra dried thyme or herbes de Provence. Cover the dish tightly with parchment paper cut to fit just above the vegetables or with a lid, then bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C (350 °F) for 30 minutes covered. Remove the paper or lid and bake for another 10–15 minutes until the vegetables are tender, lightly golden at the edges, and the sauce is bubbling up around them. Sprinkle generously with fresh parsley before serving warm, either as a light main course or a stunning side dish.