Tomato, Squash and Eggplant Gratin

- Total Time
- 2 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2pounds ripe, firm tomatoes, round or Roma, sliced thin
- 1red torpedo onion, sliced thin
- ½ to ¾pound zucchini, preferably mixed green and yellow, sliced thin
- 1long, thin eggplant, sliced thin (if all you can find is a bulbous eggplant, cut in half or in quarters and slice it thin)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- ¼cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary, plus a few sprigs
- 2teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, plus a few sprigs
Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 2-quart rectangular or oval baking dish.
- Step 2
Combine the vegetables in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil, chopped rosemary and thyme leaves and toss gently.
- Step 3
Arrange the vegetables in rows in the baking dish in this order: tomato slice, eggplant slice, tomato slice, squash slice, onion slice, tomato slice, eggplant slice, tomato slice, etc. Each slice of eggplant should have a tomato slice on either side. The vegetables should not be lying flat; they should be arranged in the dish as if you had stacked them, then lay the whole stack in the dish, all of the rounds slanting slightly to one side. Insert the herb sprigs into the dish. Pour any juice left in the bowl on top. Cover tightly with foil.
- Step 4
Place in the oven and bake 1 hour. Remove the foil and continue to bake for another 30 minutes, until the vegetables are thoroughly tender and lightly colored on the edges.
- Advance preparation: You can assemble this and refrigerate for a day before baking, or bake a day or two before serving. Reheat in a medium oven or serve at room temperature.
Private Notes
Comments
We French would call it a "tian", if you are looking for a different or more accurate name for the dish. Typically done with a row each of potatato/onion/tomato/zucchini, a shower of salt and freshly ground pepper, and a bit of broth at bottom, baked without foil so they can "gratiner", or crisp up at the edges from the heat.
This is a great dish. It showcases late summer garden veggies. I served it alone with a baguette and it was a complete meal. It does require lots of salt and pepper. It could benefit from a diced chilli pepper or some garlic if you want more heat.
I think this is improved with a light coat of grated parmesan, and either the rosemary OR the thyme instead of both. Just a personal preference of course. Easy, pretty and tasty in any case.
Extremely thrilled with my version, adapted thanks to so many helpful comments here. I went thyme only, bulb of garlic roasting in center, and swapped yukon golds for eggplant. I sliced everything quite thin, and dusted it all with parm. For prep I sliced my veg and laid it out on a baking sheet, salting as I went. I did not dump the liquid in at the end, because I wanted the dish to be as dry as possible. Loved it! Potatoes even got a little crispy at the top. Ate half of the recipe by myself like it was candy - a dish that was half squash! Transformed!
I had all the ingredients on hand and made this as written. I put the zucchini and eggplant in a bowl and sprinkled with lots of salt and added the olive oil and let it sit as I sliced the tomatoes and onion; I salted them separately. I added just thyme as another writer recommended. I put the tian together and put in the fridge for a the day. I took it out, pre-heated the oven, added a bit more olive oil and salt. I cooked covered for 45 minutes and uncovered for 45 minutes. It was delicious
I love recipes that let the flavor of the vegetables shine as their own. Simple (albeit a bit time-consuming in prep, yet easy to bake) but elegant. I am serving this at Thanksgiving; no standing over the stove at the last minute.