This is another recipe we used for our Roman Cena. So many times when we start planning a feast,  period vegetable dishes can by hard to find, but that is not the case when working from de re coquinaria.  This Roman source covers a wide variety of vegetables. 

   There are many recipes for patinas in Apicius. A patina is similar to a quiche, but without a crust or any cheese. The name of the dish is derived from the pan, the patina, that was traditionally used for it. This was a wide flat dish usually oval. A number of patinas grace the pages but this was one of the simplest.

For a 7-8 inch tart.
2 1/2 - 3 cups sliced mushrooms.
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp celery seed* (toast first for a more intense taste.)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1 tbsp honey
3 beaten eggs

Sauté the mushrooms in the oil, adding in the spices, and fish sauce. Add the honey once the mushrooms start to release some liquid. (You don't want this to be juicy.)
Spread in tart pan (greased) and pour eggs over top.
Bake in 350 oven for 20 minutes or until eggs are set.
Slice into wedges and serve. Can be served room temperature or even chilled so it can be made a bit ahead although warm out of the oven is best.

For the larger quantities needed for a feast, we used a rimed baking sheet, instead of a tart pan., increasing the ingredients.   The mushrooms should spread in a single layer over the bottom of the pan and the eggs need only be enough to cover the vegetables. We then cut  it in long strips and then into triangles to serve. We had some trouble getting the pan evenly baked in the unfamiliar ovens, but a with a careful watch and turning the sheets if needed will compensate.

Original Source material: from de re Coquinaria Roman era. (extant copies from the 9th century but certainly earlier, perhaps as early as first century.)

[314] Another way of cooking mushrooms
Boletos Aliter
Slice the mushrooms stems and finish be covering them with eggs adding pepper, lovage, a little honey, broth and oil to taste.

I have worked from Apicius  Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome, Edited and Translated by Joseph Dommers Vehling, published 1936 by Walter M Hill, Chicago, reprinted 1977 by Dover Publications, Inc, NY  This translation has been criticized on a number of, valid, points. Several other translations into English have been published more recently. However, as a Dover reprint, the Velling is perhaps the easiest to obtain and a close reading of the introductory materials will help you identify a number of his personal prejudices and work around them.

Related materials on this site:

Candlemas Cena Menu

Other Roman Recipes in this collection:

• Carrots Apician 
• Hazelnut Saffron Sauce
• Herbed Barley
• Melon Salad
• Minted Cucumber Salad
• Parsnips Apician
• Roman Sausages with spelt and pine nuts.
• Sauce a la Matius

Other vegetable recipes

• Armored Turnips
• Chard Pie
• Genovese Tart
• Lentil Cucumber Salad
• Marinated Mushrooms ala May
• Onions in Sauce

* I have used celery seed to substitute for the lovage, but the taste of lovage is more like a cross between celery and fennel. So you might try a mix of fennel and celery seed for this dish or, if you know anyone growing lovage, ask them for some seed. The plant grows over six feet tall and is a prolific seed producer. (You can have some of mine, really!)