Stuffed bread with roasted vegetables

A perfect picnic loaf for our Easter Brunch. 

The second new recipe I chose for our Easter Sunday Brunch seemed like ideal party food since it could be made the previous day and prepped even earlier: the vegetables can be roasted ahead of time and the stuffed bread should rest in the fridge over night.

This dish, moist and acidic, turned out to be one of the most delicious items on the table, and once the bread was cut into, it's so pretty, too!

Recipe borrowed from Finnish food blog limepippuri.blogspot.com

Stuffed bread with roasted vegetables

1 loaf of round sourdough / ciabatta / white bread

2 bell peppers
1 courgette (zucchini)
1 aubergine (eggplant)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp capers
100ml olives, sliced

2 tsp balsamic vinegar
100ml chopped fresh herbs; basil, parsley...
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

Turn the oven to 225°C. Halve the bell peppers, remove stems and seeds. Slice the courgette and the aubergine to 0.5mm thick slices. Toss them in oil and roast them for about 20 minutes or  until soft. I could not fit everything in the oven at once, so I roasted the veggies in two batches: first the aubergine then the bell peppers and the courgette. When done, sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you like, you can choose to peel the bell peppers.

Make the dressing in a bowl: mix balsamic vinegar with the herbs, oil and pepper. Cut the top off the bread and carve out most of the middle, leaving sturdy walls around the sides. Spoon the dressing evenly on the bread for moisture before you layer the cooled off, roasted vegetables, olives and capers inside the loaf. Lift the top half of the bread back on as a lid and wrap the creation tightly in cling film (plastic wrap).

Let the flavours settle over night in the fridge.