Summer Vegetable Tian

  • Yield: servings

Ingredients

1tablespoon chopped lemon thyme
1/4cup chopped basil
5cloves garlic, minced
2large Italian eggplants, sliced into thin rounds
-- sea salt and pepper
-- olive oil
2large zucchini, thinly sliced
3-4-- ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced
2-- fennel bulbs, thinly sliced

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine the chopped herbs and garlic. Place the eggplant slices in a colander and sprinkle them with sea salt. Let them rest for 30 minutes so the moisture releases. Pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat the oven to 320F.

Brush a large oven dish with oil and layer your vegetables into it in this order: 1 layer of tomatoes, 2 layers of zucchini, 1of eggplant, 1 of fennel; repeat this pattern until you run out of vegetables, adding some of the chopped herbs and garlic each time between layers. Season with sea salt and pepper and drizzle generously with oil.

Place the tian in the oven and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork. Check regularly to make sure that they do not brown too quickly, covering the dish with a piece of foil paper if that’s the case. Serve warm with a green salad and grilled meat or fish.

Reprinted with permission from La Tartine Gourmande by Beatrice Peltre, Roost Books.