I know, more zucchini and tomatoes. Just what you needed, right? The cooler breezes and necessary wooly sweaters at night are hinting at autumn’s arrival (and I’m so, so excited about that), but summer vegetables are still plentiful in the veggie gardens and at farmer’s markets. I would call this tian a transitional dish of sorts. The vegetables are sunny and new, but the slow cooking method makes it hearty and warming.
It’s so impressive looking, while the flavours are comforting and appealing across the board. Most of the work is in the assembly, then you push it into the oven and get on with the rest of your things for an hour or so. It takes a little while, but the results are so worth it. The smell of thyme, garlic and tomatoes bubbling away while some cool, late summer breezes float in is cozy and homey.
Summer Vegetable Tian
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion, sliced thin
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 6 sprigs thyme
- 1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
- 5-6 small new potatoes, thinly sliced
- 7-8 small-medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
- sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Equipment
Notes
- Sometimes eggplant is featured in this particular dish. If you have some smaller, Japanese eggplant, they would go really well in here.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium sauté pan over medium. Add the onions and 3 whole sprigs of thyme. Stir them up or flip them around occasionally until the onions are soft and slightly browned. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant and garlic loses its raw-ness, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, remove mixture from the heat and set aside. Remove any twig-y bits left behind from the thyme sprigs.
- Grease a 2 quart baking dish with some of the olive oil. Place the sautéed garlic and onions on the bottom of the dish. Layer the zucchini, potato and tomato slices in the pan in rows or circles, whatever works for you. Arrange them around until the dish is full (there might be leftover slices of vegetables). Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil on top. Remove the leaves from the remaining 3 thyme sprigs and scatter them around the surface. season with salt and pepper and cover with foil.
- Bake for half an hour. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes. Once the veggies are all soft and a bit browned on top, it’s ready. Serve immediately.
Stumbled upon your recipe/blog. Can’t wait to try! Thanks!
This is so nice. Finally inspiration with the bountiful zucchini and tomatoes we’re having at the garden…I will browse the website for more recipe with green beans..we desp. need that one too LOL. Thank you for the beautiful pics and recipe, lovely website!
I am not sure what you do with the onions? You said, “set them aside” but never came back to that. Please email me a response. Many thanks.
Oops! You lay them into the bottom of the oiled dish and then layer the other vegetables on top. I fixed it up. Thanks for pointing it out!