Vegetable Tian

Many of my readers know that I am now living up on Canada until next summer to work on the movie and be able to spend some more quality time with the boy. I made the move early this week (after voting of course) and wanted to make a tasty and truly fall-like meal for my first night in town. While the boy was busy working and I should have been unpacking and getting settled, I instead decided to get going with one of my all time favorite meals. Roasted Chicken and Ina Garten's Vegetable Tian. I'll post today about the tian because it is one of my all time favor tie vegetable dishes. It even gets me to eat zucchini something I wouldn't' normally do!

Vegetable Tian
recipe by Ina Garten from her book "Barefoot in Paris"

Good olive oil
2 large yellow onions, cut in half and sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound medium round potatoes, unpeeled
3/4 pound zucchini
1 1/4 pounds medium tomatoes
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus extra sprigs
2 ounces Gruyere, grated

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking dish with olive oil.

2. In a medium saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the onions over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Spread the onion mixture on the bottom of the baking dish.

3. Slice the potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes in 1/4-inch thick slices. Layer them alternately in the dish on top of the onions, fitting them tightly, making only 1 layer. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme leaves, and thyme sprigs and drizzle with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil.

4. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Uncover the dish, remove the thyme sprigs, sprinkle the cheese on top, and bake for another 30 minutes until browned. Serve warm.

The hardest part of this dish is finding vegetable that are all about the same circumference. I find that plum tomatoes work best with the zucchini. My potatoes were a bit too big, but it still turned out wonderfully. I even got the boy to eat a whole bunch of it, and he NEVER ate vegetables at home when he lived alone.

The photo is not one of my best, but I'm still learning how where the best place to take pictures are in my new place and just getting settled into a new kitchen. It's all very exciting and there will hopefully be some changes in the blog in the next month or so. Stay tuned!