Roasted Veggies with Brie

Sweet roasted red peppers, sauteed zucchini, nutty garlic and creamy brie make an appetizer that is as beautiful as it is delicious!

I had lunch at a swanky restaurant in Albany, NY and ordered roasted vegetables with brie as an appetizer

Such simply prepared ingredients and yet it was nothing short of amazing!

I wanted to share the experience with my family, so I recreated this at home

With a few Simply Sundays touches of course…

So here are the cast of characters… a wheel of brie, zucchini, red bell pepper and garlic cloves

And of course, olive oil, kosher salt and black pepper

 Let’s start with the garlic.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F

I choose the pre-peeled garlic cloves from the grocery store for this recipe because I need to use so many at once.  Feel free to peel your own, it’ll just take a little extra time

Put the garlic cloves in an oven safe dish, sprinkle with about a teaspoon of black pepper, a teaspoon of kosher salt and about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Cover tightly with foil

Place in oven for about 30-35 minutes…

Next up is the zucchini

Slice into rounds and put in a pan that has been heating over medium heat with a few swirls of olive oil & sprinkle with a pinch of kosher salt.   We’re going to let them cook for about 10 minutes before we flip them, so let’s move on to the other ingredients

Simply slice the brie wheel into long strips and set aside

Cutting a soft cheese like brie is much easier when you’re using a super sharp knife.  I use the Zulay Kitchen knife sharpener to make sure I have a good edge on my chef’s knife

Now let’s roast the red pepper.  This is easily done on the grill, but just as easy to do inside on your gas stove or oven – click the link below for the easy tutorial

3 ways to roast red bell peppers

 The goal is to soften the meat of the pepper and char the skin so it has that smoky flavor.  Today I’m using the oven method

We are going to cut the pepper in half and removed the seeds and ribs

By cutting the pepper, we can blister all of the pepper at once

Line a sheet pan with foil and place the pepper halves cut side down on the foil

Place the peppers in a 450 F oven for 25-30 minutes or until the skin is nicely blistered

Place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let them stand at least 10 minutes

You can now start peeling the skin from the peppers using your fingers or a paper towel

Now slice up the roasted pepper and put to the side to wait for plating

The zucchini has been cooking in the pan over medium heat for about 10-12 minutes

Give them a flip with a spatula… look at that caramelization that’s starting to happen here.  We’re looking for all of the zucchini rounds to cook down so they are soft and nicely browned – about another 10 minutes

Let’s check on the roasted garlic

The smell is amazing… nutty and garlicky at the same time.  Roasting the garlic totally mellows the bite it has when raw

It’s ready when the cloves are soft enough to pierce with a knife – about 30-40 minutes

I could probably just eat this with a spoon.  I just might…

Last step, is to slice up your baguette and lightly drizzle with olive oil on a sheet pan.  Your oven should already be hot, so only about 5-7 minutes will do

Now for the assembly.  Place the roasted red pepper strips in an oven proof pan – I like to use cast iron

Add in the roasted garlic & the zucchini in neat piles – saving some space for the brie

I like to stack the brie like a fan – it looks pretty and melts evenly

Sprinkle the veggies and brie with kosher salt, black pepper and finely chopped fresh rosemary.  The rosemary really adds a nice dimension to the roasted flavors

Place the whole pan in the oven for about 5 minutes… just until the brie starts to get all melty… mmm. I’m sure melty isn’t a proper word, but you know what I mean

Serve immediately with the toasted baguette

It makes a nice presentation to place the pan right on a cutting board table side – just forewarn everyone that it’s HOT!

This elegant appetizer tastes as good as it looks!

Enjoy!

Tools used to make this recipe

Lodge L10SK3ASHH41B Cast Iron Skillet, Pre-Seasoned, 12-inch

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