Summer Vegetable Tian

Vegetable Tian

Ahhh, the end of the summer produce is upon us. I will miss the flavorful tomatoes from friend's and family's gardens (we have not planted one yet in our new home, but hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later). I will miss the zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, cucumbers, green beans and corn that are local and often grown by people I know. Sure, I will buy them and eat them throughout the rest of the year, but nothing beats a homegrown tomato! Of course, I am getting ahead of myself, there is probably another month or so for some of these vegetables and then of course all the fall and winter produce is great too...it just doesn't seem as plentiful. I do love me some vegetables. My husband doesn't understand what he is missing out on by being so picky.

So, what to do with tomatoes from our neighbors and squash (yellow crookneck/summer and zucchini) from my mother and father-in-law? I decided to make ratatouille's better looking cousin, a tian. Now, this is really just a fancy looking vegetable casserole/gratin type dish. Did you know that in the movie Ratatouille they actually made a tian at the end, not ratatouille? I'd never realized it until now. On a side note, It's been forever since we made ratatouille. In fact, as a trip down memory lane, click here to see my ratatouille and click here to see my mom's (Jane's).

A traditional Provençal tian is made with tomatoes, zucchini, onions, and eggplant, I believe. I did not have an eggplant on hand. I also looked up some recipes online and saw that many people made a riff on this dish with potatoes. I had a potato. My tian is not as pretty as all those pictures online. I used my mandolin to slice the veggies to an even 1/4 inch thickness, but the potato was huge in comparison to my other vegetables. So much so, that I even stacked some slices of squash on top of one another to to be about as high as the potato slices. Also, I had varying sizes of tomatoes. This meant that I had to slice more tomatoes than I thought (3 in total) and they were all inconsistent in diameter. Oh the frustrations of perfectionism!

Those beautiful overlapping rows of artfully arranged and thinly sliced vegetables may have proved elusive, but oven roasting them into a slightly caramelized state proved successful. I used fresh rosemary because I had it, but the rosemary flavor was strong. I used about 1 to 1 and 1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary. Next time I might just stick with dried herbs for this, either rosemary and thyme, or just Italian seasoning. A few other notes, I chose to slice my veggies into 1/4" rounds, but the potato took a long time to cook. I checked it afer 45 minutes, then 50, then and hour. I had to recover it with foil since the cheese had already started browning, but it wasn't until around the 65 minute mark that the potatoes were really fork tender. I've enjoyed eating this. Too bad nobody else in the house will touch it.

Vegetable Tian

1 Tbs Olive oil
1 medium yellow or sweet onion
2 cloves garlic
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow summer squash
1 medium potato, yukon gold or russet
1-3 medium tomatoes
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 - 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend or a few ounces of Gruyere, grated

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Sauté onions in a large skillet over medium heat with olive oil until softened and transparent (roughly 5 minutes) then add the garlic until fragrant (about 1-2 minutes).

Step 2: While the onion and garlic are sautéing, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables. Try to slice them into the same shape, a 1/8" or 1/4" thick coin. A mandolin works well, but you could also use a food processor or cut them by hand if you can maintain a consistent thickness.

Step 3: Spray the inside of an 8×8" square or round baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary.

Step 4: Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with cheese and bake (uncovered) for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.