Straight from the Farm

My time as Jennie’s guest-blogger is coming to a close, but I’d like to offer one last hurrah for the summer veggies as the last in my trilogy of “farewell to summer” recipes.  It’s an easy vegetable casserole that you can assemble in advance and, while the farm-freshest vegetables are the best, you can also make this year-round using organic produce from your grocery store.  But since you’ll be able to find all of these ingredients at your local farmers market for the next few weeks, nab the best tomatoes available and cook away.

The fresh oregano is really superb in this dish, but if you don’t have an oregano plant of your own, dried will work — but reduce the amount to about a teaspoon or less, as it will have a more concentrated flavor. Another good alternative might be fresh thyme.

 Vegetable Tian

6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 leek, white and pale-green parts only, quartered lengthwise, rinsed well, and cut into 1/4 inch slices (1-1/2 cups)

1 garlic clove, minced

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

1 zucchini, unpeeled, very thinly sliced (1 cup)

1 yellow squash, unpeeled, very thinly sliced (1 cup)

2 plum tomatoes, very thinly sliced (3 cups)

1 small Italian eggplant, very thinly sliced (1 cup)

1/4 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh oregano

Grated parmesan, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leek and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook until soft, about four minutes. Spread in a nine-inch gratin or round baking dish.

Arrange vegetables on leek in slightly overlapping circles, alternating zucchini with squash, tomatoes, and eggplant. [This is the point at which you would stop, if you were making this in advance; just cover with foil and refrigerate overnight. The eggplant may brown a bit but it will get brown when you bake it anyway.]

Top with wine, 1 tbsp oil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Bake 30 minutes. Drizzle with remaining oil. Bake until vegetables are tender, 30 minutes more. Serve with Parmesan.

I served this dish most recently with rotisserie chicken and roasted white & sweet potatoes, and it was a big hit.  Thanks for the opportunity to blog with you for a few days, and happy cooking!