Vegetable tian

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 8 people, you will need:

• 1 4 courgettes
• 2 2 egg-plants or aubergine
• 3 4 tomatoes
• 4 100 g cheese
• 5 4 slices smoked ham
• 6 2 onions
• 7 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 50 g Parmesan (Parmigiano Reggiano)
• 9 30 g breadcrumbs
• 10 salt
• 11 pepper
• Total weight: 2,445 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
1 hour 1 min.	1 hour 13 min.	2 hours 14 min.

Step by step recipe

• 1: Prepare 4 courgettes and slice.
  Set aside.
  Note: For the "vegetable" element of this recipe, there is a lot of slicing to do, so a mandolin is the ideal tool.
• 2: Rinse 2 egg-plants or aubergines and cut in half lengthways, then slice.
  It is good to use a mix of different types of aubergine, if you can get them (classic dark and smaller violet ones shown in the photo).
• 3: Rinse and remove the hard stalk end from 4 tomatoes, then slice.
• 4: Thinly slice 100 g cheese (I am using Morbier here).
  Set aside.
• 5: Preheat the oven to 360°F (180°C).
  Arrange 4 slices smoked ham on a sheet of cooking parchment laid on a baking sheet.
• 6: Grill in the oven for 4 or 5 minutes.
  Leave the oven on.
• 7: Cut into strips.
  set aside.
• 8: Prepare 2 onions and slice thinly.
• 9: Pour 3 tablespoons olive oil into a saucepan on medium heat and when really hot, add the sliced onions.
• 10: Turn the heat down and cook gently until just starting to colour (5-7 minutes).
• 11:

  Assemble the tian

  
  Butter a large gratin dish.
• 12: Spread the onions out in the bottom.
• 13: Pack the vegetables in vertical rows, alternating the different vegetables and cheese.
  Pack them tightly and drizzle generously with olive oil, then salt and pepper.
• 14: Poke the strips of ham into the tian.
• 15: You will be very lucky if the quantity of vegetables exactly fits your dish, or you must have a very good eye!
  If you have any vegetables left over, why not cook a mini-tian and freeze this for later.
• 16: Bake for a good hour.
• 17: 15 minutes before the end, take the dish out and scatter the grated Parmesan and breadcrumbs over the top, then return to the oven.
• 18: Serve hot with a little olive oil or lemon juice drizzled over.

Remarks

The choice of vegetables is by no means limited to the ones listed here, so use whatever types you have to hand, suit your taste and, above all, are in season.
You can also use a different cheese (preferable soft), such as mozarella or Saint Nectaire, or whatever takes you fancy.

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